Age of the Youkai
by Saphireanime
Summary: Trapped in a society where demons are very much 3rd class citizens, Sesshoumaru, former Western Lord, remembers a time when it was not always so, and he plans to bring demons back to their former supremacy. Full sum inside. from chap 20 - short chapters
1. It begins

**So here is chapter 1 of 'Age of the youkai'. It is darker than what is normal but I read some dark fics recently and it is nowhere near as them, and the first 7 chapters or so should be alright, it is after that they begin to darken, Of course I have not written them yet so I cannot say for certain. Anyway enjoy this, and REVIEW!**

**Summary: **_Demons are the slaves of humans, that is the way it had always been – right? But Sesshoumaru, former Lord of the Western Lands, the killing perfection remembers a time when it was not always so. He remembers the time when it was the demons who ruled, and the humans who were the underlings. And as a slave to this naive 14 year old girl named Kagome Higurashi he may just be able to manipulate her to releasing him so he can take back what is rightfully his and raise demons back to their former glory. The humans have had their time of supremacy, 250 years of it. They think it is the time of the ningen but they are wrong, their Lord was back now and ready for war, this was the rise of the youkai._

Kagome Higurashi, child miko has a dream. She has a dream that one day Humans will not live in hate for youkai and that youkai will not live as slaves in fear of humans. Kagome has a dream that one day the world will be balanced and youkai and humans can coexist without the need for a war. Kagome Higurashi has hope and prays the one day her dreams will not exist solely within her mind and become reality.

**The price of responsibility and Duty**

Kagome hated responsibility; she really, _really_, hated responsibility and for good reason. Well maybe it was more that she hated her responsibilities. A little made you feel grown up and trustworthy and respected and it did have that effect on her too for a while. She had enjoyed it at first, and she took on more of it, eager for the sense of triumph and the praise she would receive when she had proven herself in time to be capable of it.

But in truth, it got to her in a bad way, especially once she was known to be capable of huge amounts of responsibility. Once you are capable of a little, they bundle more upon you and your pride prevents you from turning it down and backing out of it until you were cracking under the pressure. So now she just felt oppressed, oh yes that was indeed the word, oppresses. All the responsibility restricted her, gave her boundaries she did not want. She wanted to be free to do what she wanted, to run around and climb trees and get muddy and be a child, something she was never granted. More than anything, she wanted the freedom to be able to make mistakes. But she was never allowed to make a mistake.

Everything she always did had to be perfect, because if it wasn't, it would spell disaster, she knew this well. It had been drilled into her endlessly ever since she was a child – a child, when you are 14 surely you are a child. But it was strange, she could not even remember her childhood, and wondered whether she had even ever had one. Ever since she was a little girl she had had so much responsibility, being a miko did that to you.

You had to be powerful, weakness was not an option and everything was considered a weakness. Everything from her small stature to her huge heart and her wearing her emotions of her sleeve was considered weakness. What is more you had to be ready for anything at all times, and she had trouble functioning first thing in the morning. And that was why she was sent to the elderly but kind Keade to train to be a priestess when she was only eleven years old.

Her powers had only started to manifest, but miko training takes years and you must start early. She had been trained for three years in an unfamiliar village away from her family and friends. She was Keade's only student and she treated the lost child who fit in with nobody like her own daughter. Kagome drank up the compassion like one starved, but Keade was not her mother. In fact she could hardly remember what her mother was like, she had lost her mind to a sickness long ago and although still cared for her family, was more like a child needing looking after than the responsible mother. No, not even her own mother had responsibility even more, it all fell to Kagome, such were the vagaries of life, and it was not fair.

She had been forced to cut ties with those who were closest to her if just to lessen the hurt and loneliness. She remembered it had hurt so much she had asked 'why' to all who would listen and all who would care. The answers were never good enough; it was because there was no one in her village to train her miko powers so she had to move away when she was but a young child. She had said she would rather stay – she did not want to be a miko, especially not if it cost her friend and her home, she wanted to stay with her family, where she belonged. Alas though this was not to be, and when she asked 'why' yet again, over and over, the answer she would receive she had learned would always be the same.

It is part of the responsibility of being a priestess, a destiny the Kamis had laid before her for some unknown reason. It was a fate she did not want or appreciate, though a fate many would kill for, and they were jealous. Kagome told them not to be but they would not listen and they shunned her because they had a normal life, the only thing Kagome had ever wanted, but she was stuck with the destiny everyone else desired. Apparently it was a great honour to have this power and with great power came great responsibility, she knew this. But she did not want the responsibility and was ready to sacrifice the power in order to be free of it. No matter how great she had the potential to make that power within her become.

Of course she did not have 'great power' yet, she was not an adult yet, she was a child, when she became 16 she would be asked to return to Keade to complete her training. For now all she had learnt was to control her miko powers, not to hone them to attack, though she was capable of healing. She had been eager to learn how to heal, she had a huge heart and liked to help people, and in the back of her mind was the already feeble and faint hope that she may be able to help her mother whom she had lost years ago.

She only needed to know how to attack with her miko powers Keade had told her, to fend off demons – but that was just something passed down through the generations. There were no great threats from demons, not anymore at least, and she refused to hurt or degrade them anymore than they were already anyway. Still, it was just more and more of that wretched responsibility. She sighed as she confronted the horrific scene before her, like most phrases that were used entirely too often, the word was beginning to sound empty.

Now she was fourteen and she was returning home, a junior priestess to have yet more responsibility heaped upon her, it was relentless and unforgiving. Anybody else her age would be considered a young child, free to play and study schoolwork and do whatever they wanted. She stopped being a child and ten when she was told she was a miko. She had to study hard at school so that when she turned eleven she could move away and concentrate on meditation and healing and focusing of aura so she could become a successful priestess.

She had never been given a choice over these things in life. When had she ever been given a choice over something in her own life? She had been sacrificed to hand over her life to fate and destiny and responsibility, unable to even reach out and grasp it back. It was her life yes, but she kept feeling as though it was being lived for her. She had just sat back and let things happen to her because her parents wished it. They wanted her to study hard in school so she did. They wanted her to become a priestess and bring honour to the family and village, she did so. But this... it was just too much... not now when she wanted a break from it all... she could not be handling this!

Damn the whole family! She was fourteen! Admittedly she would be fifteen in a few days, but she was still a kid, mentally and physically, she was a child! She knew this and therefore wondered why her parents the ones who brought her into the world in the first place could not see this too, and she wondered why it was so forbidden! She could not ever make a mistake because her powers protected people and healed them. She had learned to hold her tongue because she needed respect before making her views known. She never volunteered for things, knowing there was some other obligation she had to fill.

Duty – that was another word she hated, although not as much. Being a miko meant you had the ability to help the sick and injured, and that gave you the duty and obligation to help them. Kagome Higurashi understood honour and its importance to her even if she was too modest to allow it to affect her pride. She had too much honour to turn down responsibility handed to her, but duty was something else. She knew that you must never turn away from duty, whether you want it handed to you or not. Kagome got to thinking about this new problem before her, for that is what it was to her, although at that time she had no idea just how much of a problem it was. Was this responsibility, or was it duty, or both, either way, now she was honour bound to it.

Here she came to face the brunt of her ire. Everybody had slaves, it was not uncommon, and not only reserved for the higher classes either, there were plenty of demons to go around. Most adults only had one, and sometimes there were only a couple per family. Some of the richer population had several, but then rich people had to have several of everything. She was not rich, just a 14 year old girl living on her own to be forced to mature faster so she would train at a faster rate once she turned 16 and returned to Keade.

Kagome Higurashi was one of the rare few who did not approve of the keeping of slaves. Yet disappointment always came to the minority, especially when you were but a kid and did not know anybody with the tremendous power to help you. It meant you could not make a difference; the war was lost before it began. Slaves were people too, with feelings and emotions and thoughts and dreams and it was not her or anybody else's place to crush them or replace them with ambitions only of pleasing their master or mistress. Nobody knew of her views, because she had long ago learnt to hold her tongue when confronted with the whole world as an opponent. In fact, the first to learn of her views would be her slave.

This is what had gotten Kagome so angry. Sometimes slaves were given as a present on some rich snob's 16th or 18th or 21st birthday. You were not meant to have one as a kid, unless it was a family one. She was a miko though and that made a difference, at least, that is what everyone who gave a rat's arse would soon be telling her. Here she was, treated by her father like one of those rich snob's she detested and ridiculed at every chance she got. That was the one thing she hated above all else – even more than the slave trade – becoming something she hated. It was even worse than pretending to be someone she was not, thought she hated having to live under a false pretence too, but she had been doing that for four years now and it had gotten easier.

She did not want a demon of her own at all, it was just so wrong; she did not even know what to do with one. She did everything she needed to herself; and wanted to look after herself, that was the one bit of responsibility she appreciated, she had duty to her own needs. Those three years with Keade give her that knowledge. Kagome could look after herself, but she was fine and loaded with that one task. What she did not need was some demon to follow her around she had to look out for and provide for as well.

Now here she was, seething and nervous. "Daddy, why is there a demon in the living room?" And why oh why does he have my name printed on a necklace like a frickin' collar? She used her best puppy dog eyes and whiney voice to elicit a suitable answer. She doubted she would get a good answer though, her father was a very dense person as good as his intentions may be, and they were misunderstood. This was what happens when you send your daughter away at such a young age so they develop a very vital stage away from you. You forget who they are and what their ideas are, and end up knowing nothing about them.

"This is your welcome home present, Kagome love," her father answered, giving her a hug, acting as if this was the best thing a father could do for his daughter, and it was had she been anyone else. "And it's a happy 15th, a week in advance." Kagome returned the hug purely out of courtesy because she had not seen much of him for the past three years. Yep, that was pretty much along the lines of an answer she had been expecting so she was not exactly surprised. Still it hurt that he knew so little about her that he would be as openly cruel as to purchase a slave and then just to rub in the salt – hand him over to her!

This was his twisted idea of a present? Was this some sort of sick joke? She was after all living in some sort of sick world, so it figured. This was not a present, it was a frickin' nightmare! Did her father know absolutely nothing about her? She despised the keeping of demons as slaves or pets. She did not know what to do with a slave; she didn't need this responsibility on top of everything else she had to keep track of as the miko of the village. She loved her father but Kami in heaven; he was making her life hell!

"Listen, Kagome honey, I've got to go out of town for a few weeks, that's why I gave you your present early. I'm sorry for leaving you alone, with your mum and grandpa on holiday and your brother studying abroad at school. Listen to me, mum and grandpa promised to be back for your birthday, and Souta will be coming home for a couple of weeks from then too. Look after the house for me while I'm gone; get the demon to do it, that's what it's for after all. Take care of yourself honey, I love you, goodbye."

Him going was no big news to her, it was not as if it didn't happen at least three times a year and for extended periods too, lasting up to three months. Well she lived on her own anyway, her father was so often away for her to say she lived with him, and everyone knew it, it was more like they occasionally slept under the same roof and ate the same food at the same table. But because she was not supposed to be living by herself as she was single, a woman and underage anyway, it was said she lived with her father. But she did not, he was away too often, she lived by herself, and she was fine with that, she was a miko, she was meant to be solitary.

With those few words that was it, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, kissed her forehead, and he was gone, again. Kami only knew how long her only mentally stable parental figure would be gone for this time. He said he loved her and then just left her standing there all alone with a bloody demon standing in the living room of the hut to look after. He was not that bad to look at if she was honest. He was tall, muscled, had long silver hair and beautiful markings on his face; magenta stripes on his cheeks, purple eyelids and a blue crescent moon on his forehead. But that was all besides the point, he was a demon slave.

Kagome guessed she may as well make peace with him, she had just been staring at him for at least a minute dumbstruck, and he'd done the same. She couldn't just 'free' him, he would not believe her word, and there was no traditional thing she could give him as truth that she knew of. There probably was something she could do, she just did not know what it was, she knew so little of demon slavery, and she had not bothered to learn seeming as she planned on never purchasing one. She would just have to give him her trust and kindness and then perhaps he would not be so much of a bother after all, perhaps he would even be a friend for her. She had never been lonely before, but she had to be optimistic, it was all she had left.

Somewhere in between her loving father and his twisted idea of present seeming as h knew nothing about her landed her in this predicament. Somewhere in between being a miko and a child gave her a sense of honour and she made sure to prise herself on her two ideals she hated. Somewhere in between those said hated ideals, responsibility and duty, was this demon to look after. This was going to be hard and awkward.

Did she mention she hated all this responsibility piled upon her?


	2. Between slavery and friendship

**Chapter 2 – please enjoy! Review – I only have 1 so far and I do so love this fic!**

**Between slavery and friendship**

"So," she said in a hesitant and nervous voice, not sure how to start. His eyes snapped to hers and she was lost in the amber depths. He looked so sad, so trapped, and angry as well and hatful; well he obviously didn't want to be a slave – who did? But she felt so hypocritical after speaking out against it for so long. She felt responsible for his sadness and his loss of freedom; he looked regal, like he should be ruling the world. Maybe he was a leader once upon a time, before his race was so mercilessly subdued by her kind.

"What are you orders mistress?" He said in a monotone voice, and Kagome took a step back unintentionally from the bitterness and subservience of his tone. If that cold voice did not speak hostility and hate then nothing did, oh well, there was nothing like a nice little challenge. Well that for starters was going to have to change. She had to let him know about her feelings towards slaves, and the fact he was not one while in her care. Kagome decided to dismiss his question and move somewhere more comfortable.

"Come on," she said, breezing past, him, feeling uncomfortable and excited in a strange and nervous way when she passed right by him. She had never been good with strangers; she had never really been good with people she did know as well coming to think of it. Let's face it; she just was not a people person. She had been trained all her life to be on her own, she was a miko after all, so a slave should be perfect for her, but to her he was not an 'it' he had feelings and emotions and ambitions, he was not a possession.

She plopped herself down on the sofa in the lounge and looked towards the middle of the room to find the demon had not moved. He just stood there staring at her. "Well sit down," she said in a bored tone, one you might use when talking to a child." Having received his orders, quicker than you could say 'awkward' he had sat down on the sofa opposite her. He was still staring at her intently with those amber eyes that saw into your soul and Kagome got the feeling she should be the one in control here, but couldn't.

"You are an Inu demon aren't you?" She asked and received a nod affirmative. Being a miko she was trained to be able to spot different demons. Some were easy to identify, others, namely strong ones like this demon who held a human form very well were harder, but there were tell tale signs you could pick up on. "I like your tail?" she commented, nodding at the pile of fluff piled on his shoulder on top of his completely white attire. It came out like a question because she had no idea how he would react to such a random comment. She had the urge to stroke it, but held back. He did nothing but raise an eyebrow.

Kagome felt like she was failing with him already. She was making small talk with him to try and break the ice, and he hadn't said anything yet. No. She wasn't going to give up already, she had after all, only asked two questions and they had been 'conversing' for less than a minute so far. "What's your name?" She asked, feeling rather guilty she had not asked earlier, she really should be more considerate. This time, although still not verbalizations, she got a big reaction, both eyebrows shot up in shock and his eyes widened. Nobody asked that of a slave. They were either given a name or stripped of one.

"Geez. You do have a name don't you?" She waited a little more hearing the seconds slip by. "If you don't want to tell me then that is okay, I understand if you want to keep something solely to yourself. A name is after all a very personal and precious thing to own, not to be given to everyone. I respect that. However I would like to call you something a little less demeaning than 'demon' or 'hey you'." The sarcasm was in there, but only lightly.

There was another ridiculous long silence which could have lasted as long as five minutes before the Inu demon sitting not a couple of paces before her, opened his mouth and stated in a deep baritone voice, "Sesshoumaru, mistress." His voice was incredible. It was cold and devoid of everything, but oddly feline and soft for a dog, like velvet, it made her feel safe and melted her heart. That voice could be filled with so much warmth and power, things he had been stripped of. there was a void inside him, she could hear that from his voice, a void he had long ago given up hope of filling with anything other than hate, hopelessness and anger.

"Sesshoumaru, huh?" She repeated, rolling it over her tongue and she said it and finding that she tremendously liked how it sounded. "That's a really nice name, despite its meaning. I really like it. It has a nice sound to it; and it really suits you, one look at those claws finalized that, but then I guess you'd know that already. Oh, and cut out that mistress crap, I don't want there to be so much of a divide between us."

Those eyes widened again in shock.

"Call me Kagome."

"Kagome sama," he complied.

"No, no, no, no, no," she disagreed, shaking her head from side to side frantically with each 'no.' "No 'sama' in the name okay Sesshoumaru, I'm no high standing lady, just simple Kagome. That way we can get along much easier."

"Kagome," he said.

"That's it."

"Say, when was the last time you ate something? From my knowledge slaves when waiting to be sold are not exactly well looked after. Are you hungry?" The demon did his shocked face again, and Kagome sent him a withering look. He did not answer, and for a moment, Kagome was wondering whether or not she was actually going to get a response from the demon at all. Then finally, he looked her in the eye after apparently thinking it over for some time for unknown reasons and he nodded slowly.

Eager to be out of his presence and doing something productive, Kagome all but leapt out of her seat and skipped into the kitchen. "What sort of things do you eat?" She called back into the living room. "Meat I guess," she prompted upon receiving no answer, "do you prefer it cooked or raw, or just rare?"

Again she was given silent treatment, and she was just about to repeat the question when he answered her. She was determined to remain patient and calm with this guy, that was something she had been trained for three years for. However his constant silence was unnerving and now it was just plan annoying. She was beginning to think that he either did not like to speak or was bad at it, or maybe just hated her too much when one word was carried through the still air to her straining ears, "either."

"You don't talk much do you?" She noted, full aware than now she was not on her own for once and actually had company, willing, listening company at that, she herself talked far too much and very quickly too. It was an accurate enough observation, at least for the time being. Needless to say, again, she received no reply. This too, Kagome decided she was going to have to change for her sanity if nothing else.

Kagome decided to fix a sandwich for herself, easy to make, quick to eat, didn't require chopsticks and created minimal clearing up. Sesshoumaru's meal was more complicated seeming as all she had gathered was meat, and that could even be raw, so she went for sushi. There was a tray of posh stuff in the fridge that she had not touched because she hated raw food of any kind, or even meat that was too rare. It was posh food, purchased as another present, but her father knew nothing about her. It served two, but the demon seemed like a big guy, he could have it all.

She passed the tray to him and was just about sit down when she realized he must be thirsty as well and fixed him a drink of water too. She was not used to being a hostess and was terrible at it; usually the only one she had to look out for was herself. She rarely had guests, but her visitor too seemed nervous and totally unsure about her. She wanted his trust, and she wasn't getting it, so she had to trust him first.

He did not touch the food or the water she handed to him on a tray despite saying he was hungry, and Kagome got nervous. "You can eat whenever you like," she prompted, not wanting to eat herself if he did not have his meal too. "Do you not like the food? You know you gave me no ideas as to what you like to eat, so if you tell me what you do and do not like, I'll make sure to prepare that for you in the future."

"The food is fine," he assured her, still not touching it, or the drink.

Feeling incredibly uneasy, she lifted her tuna sandwich and took a couple of bites. Kagome looked on amazed as he used his claws to eat the sushi. She had provided him with cutlery, but what he did looked easier and made less clearing up for her to do. Then another thought struck her which made her feel so bad about his position, she almost felt ill. She hated the idea of him being so 'below' her. He almost seemed scared of her; as if he needed her permission to merely breathe.

"Umm, Sesshoumaru, did you just wait for me to start eating before you did. I want you to know that you do not have to watch yourself around me. Don't hurt me or my family is all I ask, other than that, act like you O.K? I want to get to know you, the real you, not you as a broken slave, and I want us to be more of friends than have that super awkward slave/mistress relationship, I don't go in for all that? I hate it!"

"What do you mean?" His face seemed to be a mask, even though he was confused, leaving Kagome to think he did not show his emotions on his face very often. Therefore, when he was surprised at her questions, he must have been really shocked. She must have really shocked him several times in the last few minutes.

"What I mean Sesshoumaru is that I disapprove of the 'keeping' of slaves. I don't know why my father 'purchased' you, but he does not know me at all." She used her fingers and quotation marks around the words which would otherwise offend him if she used them so freely, though he may feel forbidden to show it.

"After all, you are a person too; slaves are normal people, or demons if you like, not possessions. Well, you're demons, not people at all, but same principle applies." She inwardly winced, she could taste herself going off on a ramble and it was not good. "You have thoughts and feelings and your own views. You have ambitions and dreams of the future. Nobody deserves to be the property of another; you should have the chance to a life. That's why I hate the idea of anything even resembling slavery.

I want you to know that I will never ask you to do something that I would not do myself. If I ask you to do something, it will purely be out asking for a favour, and you have the right to refuse, I would never give you an order. You can ask me to do things for you too, and I would be happy to oblige. I'm running out of ways in which to say it Sesshoumaru, I would like us to be friends."

The silence that followed this statement was long, but not quite as awkward as the previous ones had been. He blinked slowly. "You are offering your alliance with this Sesshoumaru?" He asked her; delicately pronouncing each letter, they way in which he spoke was very graceful, and very pleasing to the ears.

"Not exactly," Kagome disagreed, "that sounds as if we are at war and hopefully were are not. Friendship isn't a truce Sesshoumaru. I do not want us to be bound by documents or fear of retribution. I want us to be bound by honour, trust, and warm feelings to another. We don't have to start out all 'best buddy' straight away. Respect, I know takes time to earn, and trust is not something to give quickly. I want you to be free around me. Don't wait for my permission to eat or drink, just do so. Oh and eat and drink what you like, I don't know what your preferences are, but we can discuss all that later. So, we are equals now, you and I, friends, what do you say, Sesshoumaru, do you accept?"

He was shocked beyond belief, yet again, Kagome knew this, even though the demon did a good job of hiding it. His eyes narrowed and Kagome immeidately forgave him for being suspicious, she would be too in his position. He had been kicked about all of his life, sneered upon, treated like vermin, and then offered friendship. It would not be easy, especially seeming as everyone expected her to treat him like dirt.

She was no hypocrite though. She would not be two faced and treat him differently when around other people, no matter what they said. She already liked this Sesshoumaru and she was determined to make him like her. She shot him a smile, unsurprised and undeterred when it was not returned, it was to be expected.

"This Sesshoumaru finds your offer hard to believe, and therefore, difficult to accept. I also do not like being given pity, it is not what I want."

"Then please just give me a chance to let you know that I am not like that. I do not see you as a thing, but a person like me. I cannot help but feel pity, forgive me for that, I promise I will only treat you how I know I would like to be treated. Please Sesshoumaru; I want us to at least give it a try. I won't offend you or anything I promise. I'm sorry for being so harsh but let's face it, you haven't got anything to lose, it is no skin off your back."

Kagome was pleasantly surprised to see a small smile curl its way around his shapely lips. "This Sesshoumaru reluctantly accepts that you do have a good point there," he conceded with a shrug or feigned indifference.

"Wonderful," Kagome gushed, anxious to keep the enthusiastic attitude up and not scare him off so quickly.

"This does not mean I entrust my being to you," Sesshoumaru carried on with a slight frown. Kagome knew he was just being cautious and this was to be expected, but she was still slightly hurt by this.

"I understand," Kagome said with a nod, and she did. If he wanted to be cautious, that was good for him, you won't be made to feel sorry later that way. But she wished he would trust her. She trusted him although she had no idea why, maybe because she had been taught not to fear demons, but rule over them. Maybe it was lack of fear, not trust, but no, she felt safe with him, although she again knew not why.

Maybe if she could show him that she gave him her trust and respect, then he would do the same. She would show him she did not lie, prove to him that she told the truth and was a woman of her word, right now, and then he would in turn grant her his respect and trust. This was common sense, and it would work. Words would not cut it, and so many people nowadays never kept their word, she had to show him she meant what she said about wanting to be equals and wanting friendship. She was sure that if she was able to do that, then they would grow to be very close friends. She did not have any friends left and he looked intriguing, plus he was a powerful demon, she knew he was powerful because he could sustain a very good human form.

How to show him she meant what she said though? He needed proof and she intended to give it him, but how? She had given him food and been a hostess, and she would give him a room as well. He could have the master bedroom until her mother came home in a couple of days, or would it be weeks time, then he would have to either sleep in the lounge, or share her bedroom, it was not like she was going to throw him out in the garden. He was not an animal, or a dog to be kennelled in the outside cold and damp.

She wanted to shake his hand, which would show her trust. But no, it didn't seem to be enough, it did not strike her as quite the right thing to do. She would continue to show him respect and courtesy, but again that was something to be built in a relationship over time. She wanted to do something now that would ensure the budding of friendship. Then, it suddenly came to her, one moment she was blank for ideas, and the next, it was in her head and it was so obvious what it was she could do.

He was a youkai and would understand submission; then he would be more willing to be friends. Kagome got out of her seat and walked over to where the demon was sitting on the black sofa opposite her. Standing up while he was sitting down they were same height and to tell the truth, Kagome was actually rather intimidated by him. Kagome waited until he looked her in the eye and then she averted her eyes first and got down on the floor at his feet, not a bow, more than that, her lips grazing the toe of his boot.

He looked on, amazed and interested along with amused as she threw all dignity and self respect out the window and practically offered herself up to him by crouching on the ground, kissing his feet. However, Kagome was prepared to do pretty much anything. If this is what it took to get the demon to trust her, then this is what she'd do. Kagome did not care if she devalued herself; these demons had been ridiculed and dehumanized all their life. There was no better way to show that she was different than doing the same.

She had her face practically pressed down into the ground, so she could not see his reaction. She heard however the rustle of clothes which was either him standing up, or slipping out his seat. She did not rise, or even move a muscle or make a sound, she waited for his command, she knew he understood this. This would show him that she was at is mercy, and waited for his order. Right now, he was the dominant one, the alpha, and she waited for his word before doing anything for herself, the ultimate act of submission.

He knew what she was doing, she could tell he did. She also knew he was enjoying it, in a rather sadistic way too. He made her wait a tedious amount of time, just staring, before finally making a move. Suddenly she felt a finger underneath her chin, lifting her face up to meet his inquisitive one. He was looming over her, one long arm extended downwards, lifting her face up the ground to look up at him from the floor.

"You sure are different," he exclaimed, turning her chin from side to side, but not giving her permission to rise, he made her stay down there. Something about this turn o events and the rather calm way he was dealing with the situation had her thinking this was what he was used to. Perhaps before he was captured he was a leader, a demon lord, one used to high station and a natural alpha. But she brought everything upon herself; all of this was her idea after all. "And strange," he added, dropping her face and straightening his back. The smallest of humourless smiled curled about his lips as he stared down at her.

He continued to stare down at her from where he stood over her, like a warlord about to pass judgement. He looked so powerful and regal, and dangerous, and so, so authorative. He seemed used to having authority, and knew how to use authority, and she had maybe rather foolishly given him permission to use it, over her. Surely though he was a little kind and would not make her do something horrid or terribly demeaning. He had more honour than to bite the hand the treated him so generously.

Then again, although she believed them to be different from the stories she had been told ever since she was a toddler, the truth remained that he was a demon. He was more than that, he was a former Taiyoukai with a vendetta against humans for demeaning him so, and she was submitting to him. Whatever happened now, she had to keep in mind that this was for the good, and this would gain her his trust. Whatever happened to her now, she had to keep in mind that this was her idea, so she could harbour no ill feelings at all towards the demon. Sesshoumaru did not warrant them, his stubbornness and reluctance to open up did certainly. However, his icy and closed demeanour was probably formed as a response to how he had been treated in the past, buy humans.

His warm amber swirls stared so deeply into her navy blue eyes that she was afraid she may be forever lost within them if he were to continue that intense gaze. She felt a flicker of triumph when a full blown grin flashed over his features. It was not a wry little smile, or a smirk, but a real, full blown, meaningful grin. "I accept," he said, and then reached down and pulled her to her feet. "We're friends."


	3. A different mistress

**O.K. Next chapter is up guys. The one who can guess who Sesshoumaru's previous mistress was gets an interactive cookie! Guess quick though or I'll eat them all myself! Please enjoy, read and review, gets a little darker in this one, but believe it or not, you are not meant to hate Sesshoumaru just yet – he gets a lot worse.**

**A different mistress**

As soon as he saw her he had known that she was different. She was different from the man who 'purchased' him as she put it at the slave market. He tried to not hold too much hate towards that man now, because he tended to end up killing that which he hated, even if he had to wait a long time to do so, and he did not want to kill the father of his new friend. She was different from all other unimpressive and disgusting humans that he had had the displeasure of coming across in his commendably long life. She was thankfully a lot different from his previous mistress, in a better way of course; you could not get much worse than her though. She was just – different. He couldn't describe it, but it was most welcome.

It was not just her outwardly appearance that made her so different, not that it wasn't extremely pleasing to the eye. The girl was certainly very pretty, any fool could see that much, but then of course, he knew better than anyone that looks can be deceiving and outward appearances meant nothing at all, his previous mistress had been beautiful too. She was slim but not skinny like a lot of females he had encountered, she was healthy and fresh, an innocent flower in mid bloom. She had long black hair that cascaded down to the centre of her back in waves of noir silk. She had the most interesting grey blue eyes that captured you with a glance, hn, the same had been said about him and his amber gaze. She was not very tall, five feet maybe, a whole two feet shorter than him. This was to be expected though, she was still a pup.

Yes, her appearance was different and nicer than what he had been expecting to be truthful, everyone enjoyed nice surprises. No, it was not just her looks that made her so different, it was deeper than that. No, it was not the fact that she was a miko either, a miko who had not killed him the moment she laid eyes on him. Yes, he could tell that she was incredibly powerful, he could practically taste it. She did not know that though, she had yet to realize her own potential. She had not yet tapped into her full power, and this amused him greatly, she was completely undiscovered, you did not get more innocent that that.

She was so young, almost fifteen summers old, only a child, a pup, half grown. This combined with what attracted his attention is what intrigued him. She was young, but it was her morals and what she said that made him so shocked. The depth of her midnight eyes caught him too; she had seen much, her mentality, although she longed to be a child, had ceased to enjoy its freedom long ago. He missed nothing, she would learn that, he caught every action, every sound and he took all into consideration. He was perceptive, he prided himself on such an ability as not many could rival him on it, and that would spell her future.

He had not meant to be caught as he had been and made into a slave like so many others of his race. He had been fighting for their liberation and he had managed to save a great deal of his brethren. He had given them power, land, refuge and they had fought for him too, helped him, tried to save him in return as loyal subjects do... and failed. He had not managed to get away like the ones he had defended and now here he was, playing babysitter and slave for a miko who was not yet fifteen summers of age. Things could get an awful lot worse though, they had been with his previous mistress before getting transferred here, to her, he could be stuck carrying out bedroom favours for some upstanding woman – or man.

What caught his attention after the initial shock of being confronted with a child, a miko child even as his mistress was her voice, and more importantly, what she said. The first thing she had asked was for him to sit down so they were more comfortable. Her voice was soft and unsure instead of harsh, unforgiving and hateful, that told him she was different from the start. The very first thing she asked for was looking out for him. The next questions were all aimed for his comfort, like he was some honoured guest. Except for when she said that she liked his tail, that made him seem like a pet, but he was still strangely flattered because it hadn't been said like that. She had just complimented him, simple pleasantries.

He liked the fact she said that, because already for some reason he was beginning to like her, a lot actually, already and he's only just seen her, and he found that he wanted her favour. The thoughts scared him a little because he was afraid he would turn into some little poodle that pined for his master or mistress in this case. He did not want to be a mutt that whined for attention and wagged his tail when he was scratched behind the ears. He was not anybody's pet; as hard as they all tried to break him, and he could not be tamed and would not obey orders such as 'sit' and definitely not 'heel' or 'beg' willingly.

But Sesshoumaru could tell that this girl would not do that to him, she was different from other humans, all other humans. His previous mistress could not stop giving him such orders, and was profanely fond of 'beg'. Although lowering his pride was not nearly as bad as the things she had the tendency to make him 'beg' for. No, this young miko, this Kagome, she was different from other humans, the opposite to his previous mistress and the slave drivers and sellers who loved taunting and torturing him and his kind.

He didn't like her just because she was young or pretty, had a nice scent and voice, such features of outward beauty did not mean nothing to him but he had learned to look deeper than that and see into the heart. He judged people based on character, not many males did, not many would look past the long legs and the interesting eyes, but he always had and always would. And her character – it was the purest he had come across in a long time. He liked it that she was fresh and pleasing to the eye, but his previous mistress had been pretty as well and it took a lot to make him truly hate someone, but he despised her.

Sesshoumaru respected what deserved it, such as power, he respected character, and he respected manners and good will. She was everything that he liked, apart from being human, but that was not really her choice and could not be helped. When he was Lord, many believed it was near impossible to earn his respect because so many tried and failed. The truth was, they were trying to impress him and Sesshoumaru held no respect for false identity, only truth and honesty to yourself and others. He respected things that were different to what people believed, he did not respect mindless killing and brutality. He respected those who earned it of him, and she deserved it.

That brought a rare, almost undetectable smile to his lips past the shock she kept putting upon him. He screamed at himself that it was dangerous and bad idea to get attached, but it could not be helped. She had achieved in a few minutes what so many high standing demons tried and failed to do in a lifetime, and she did not even realize it. She had Lord Sesshoumaru's respect and was starting to gain his affection too. He was not Lord yet, he was a slave now, but that did not mean things were going to stay that way forever.

He had come ready to hate, yet submissive to whomever owned him, and that way he would be able to get is freedom back. Then she had asked him for his name. He had never been so shocked in his life. He was a slave. Her slave. She was not meant to care at all about him; he was dirt, her little pet to play with. She did not seem to really understand that. Why did she not understand? He was nothing to her, less than nothing. His name was of no importance, if she wanted him to be classified as anything other than a simple possession of hers, then she should give him a name and that name would be humiliating.

Yet eventually he had given it to her. It was not just because she had asked for it; he would not be fooled by one line of speech that hinted she might give a damn. He had given it to her because she said she understood if he did not want to. 'You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.' She said that. Then 'I respect that'. And he could not help but take that line as a Taiyoukai would, 'I respect you'. Again he reminded herself his miko mistress was a child, so he had figured that no harm could come to him by giving this pup his name.

She praised his name, she found it pleasing, liked it, and thought it sounded nice. He was the killing perfection, and he should be killing those who dishonoured him. He had intentions of gaining his honour and title as a ruler back one day. Somehow, humans had managed to overthrow demons, but he would take his lands back and kill those who had done this to him. Yet she would not be among the number, so far all she had shown him was respect and graciousness and she interested and amused him. He gave an internal dark smile. And anything that interested and amused him was worth keeping alive.

"Are you hungry?" What sort of a mistress asks that? He had to beg for food and water when the time called for it. That is what he had had to do for his last mistress. His last mistress had kept him like a real dog. She had used leashes and collars and made him beg and kiss her feet. She would be among the first he would kill once he finally managed to shake off the humans constantly trying and somehow succeeding to catch him. The sedating poison they used though was so strong and when he awoke he was in a cage and being leered at by more humans wanting to buy him.

Not only had she asked whether he was hungry, but had asked about what he ate as well. She was concerned for his well being and did not want to give him food he disapproved of; she asked whether he preferred raw or cooked meat. He had been so shocked when she first asked him and did not know what to answer with. He could tell she was aggravated with his silence, but he truly did not know what to say.

The truthful answer to the innocent question was rare, but he was not going to say that unless it sounded as if he expected her to cook him a meal. Judged by her behaviour so far, he did, but that was beside the point. He was planning on staying silent, but that would make her further agitated, so he gave her a vague answer and hoped for the best. He had never been put so far out of his comfort zone before, he could not figure her out, and well, everything she did just kept surprising him further.

He had been taught, especially by his previous mistress that he should be happy to be eating dirt –that was his place after all. As it was he was given real food, nice food even, not dog food from a tin like last time which had tasted of – well it was disgusting. Last time he had not really understood the concept of a tin of food, humans cooked meals from different components so why should dogs and cats be any different? After all, you could not go to the market and buy a can of human food, it just didn't exist. As it was, she had given him good food, proper food, a posh dish, and no menial amount of it either, it was a proper meal.

Was this miko, his new child mistress for real? He was so surprised by her, but he had said it before and he will say it again, she was just so different. This was going to the extremes though, like, she really did not get it. She was the mistress and he was her slave; but no, she did not understand that at all, and he was – happy about that, yes, he was happy with that. He was not going to complain about not being treated like dirt, it was a welcome change. If she was going to treat him like an equal, so be it.

Then came the speech regarding his freedom and all he could do was stare at her awestruck. Things could not really get much better than this, he was so lucky, his dreams of turning the world on its head were going to become a reality now, he could feel it. "You have your own dreams and aspirations for the future." She had no idea, and her offering of an alliance between them just escalated matters. Aye Miko, I do.

Kagome. She told him her name with no restraint. He already knew it of course; it was printed around his neck as a collar. He could not remove it, only she could do that and it would break the bond between them. However, she did not know this, and he was not going to tell her, not yet. No honorific she had said, just simple Kagome, as if they were equals, as if they were – "let's be friends." As if they were friends.

He was roaring at himself not to trust her, telling her this as well, out loud and inside, but he was failing this. Everything she said was the truth and she was being honest and honourable with him, she really did want to be 'friends'. He was failing and beginning to warm up to her against all better judgement. She had already won. She did not even know he was battling against himself with her and she still won.

Then she just had to do that to him and test his constraints to the limit. She submitted. She got down to the floor at his feet, the show of ultimate subservience, something he had had to do countless times for his previous mistress. To Inu demons, it was also the position females went in when offering themselves to a male to take them, but she had obviously not known that and he would not, could not do that to her. The show of ultimate subservience meant he could make her do whatever he wanted.

Friends, as in look out for each other and love each other friends. He was to be friends with a human, a child, a miko, his mistress. Sure, why not, the previous Lord of the West was now a slave after all that showed anything could happen. Her disapproval of the slave trade, her alliance and his apparent freedom to do what he wanted would allow him to work towards the raising up of the demons once more to their former glory. He remembered the time before that was not actually so long ago when humans were the slaves, when they tripped over each other for a chance to be in that position she was just in.

This Kagome sure was different from everyone else. She did not approve of the slave trade which had been around for two and a half centuries now. But now, after 250 years, he would turn the world around back to the way things should be. With a little manipulation, she may even help him. He was a master of manipulation; she would end up submitting to him, she would, because she was young and naive.

The funny part about all of this was that she had absolutely no idea what she had allowed to start to take place. She had effectively given him permission to take dominance, to become the alpha of this pack of two, and he was a natural alpha so dominate he would do. She had no idea of the catastrophe she had welcomed upon the world and herself. She knew nothing, and Sesshoumaru would make sure that he kept it that way.

Sesshoumaru decided that he indeed did quite like her. He would make humans the slaves again and the demons would rule once more. Once he was raised to his former glory as Lord of the Western Lands, she would be his pet. She would become his slave and then she would know just what a demon was capable of. She was so pure and innocent and in time that would become his, she would be his, all of her, all his. He had to make leeway of a year, perhaps two to set his plans in motion, and then she would be his for sure. If she did not want to be a mistress then she would be the slave and he the master.

He was willing to protect her under the pretence of being a 'friend' while he took over the world right under her nose. She trusted him, he could see that, and he would use that, by the time she realized her dreaded mistake, things she would be too late, things would be too far gone. He was a powerful inudaiyoukai, a very powerful one, and she was just a child. She was a powerful miko, but a far too trusting, pure good natured child one and she would be powerless to stop him especially since granting his freedom.

She would be manipulated into removing the collar which kept him from harming her, not that he would ever do that to what was his. He was very protective over what belonged to him, and always would be, now that included her. He wanted to keep the collar for now though, it was the first physical tie between them. Being friends required no documents she had said, just mutual understanding and agreement, but this showed they were indeed bound to one another. They were not quite bound in the way that he wanted them to be just yet, but all comes in its due course. When things did take place in their due course, she too would wear a collar of her very own stating just who it was she belonged to – all in good time.

"We're friends." 'That's right... Kagome Higurashi; I am your ultimate protector now. You need no one else to protect you while I am your guardian, not that there is anyone to protect you from me. No one will ever get to you and so much as say one bad word to you for as long as I am here. You will see my actions as those of a friend, those of a protector, but when the time comes for me to reclaim my title as Lord of the West I am not sure I will be able to hold back from claiming you.'

Sesshoumaru could hardly wait for the future, this new 'mistress' of his would do whatever he asked of her. She felt sorry for him, pitied his position and the position of all of his kind. She knew of no other time, the time when Demons ruled and the humans were but underlings, yet she wanted to help him. He did know of that time and he fully intended to bring that time back. Because he knew of that time and had someone he wanted to make his pet, he had ever more incentive.

She had no idea that she was even betraying her own kind, according to her, she was just helping the 'right side', and she said that. "I give my help in whatever way I need to, to those who need it Sesshoumaru, demon, human or hanyou." Him, he needed her influential help, and she said yes, she would help him, it did not spell well for her future which was not really a very good way to repay her given the prizes for him were so great, but hey, he might decide to make things up to her one day, he was after all a man of honour.

Hanyous, Halflings. Yes he had heard of such creatures, he knew one of them very, very well in fact. Sesshoumaru did not have his weapons, they had of course been confiscated from him upon capture and God knows who had them now or where they were being kept. But he still had his claws and his teeth, they could not ever be taken from him, and he did not need more than those. With those tools he would be able to get his swords back at the very least before starting his world (not to mention miko) domination plan. However with the right incentive and the adrenaline coursing through his body the way it did, he may not even need their use to get what he wanted.

He would take back his lands from whichever human were ruining them for him, and then so much more than that. He would take back his title; he would regain his respect, his fearful aura, his castle and servants.

The world would soon be his.

Kagome would soon be his.


	4. I beg to differ

**Such a quick update! Aren't I good? Enjoy and please review, for some reason I do not have very many. Well this one shows his developing affection for Kagome and her childlike obliviousness towards it, I love Sesshy, review if you agree!**

**There are still some interactive cookies left for anyone who can guess who Sesshoumaru's previous mistress was.**

**I beg to differ**

Kagome Higurashi was intending to have a normalish day. The 'ish' had become a permanent suffix to her previous meaning of the word normal ever since Sesshoumaru entered her life. Normal to her primarily meant being alone in most circumstances, which was part of being a miko anyway really, though she hated to meditate as she had been forced to do when training with Keade. People of the village hardly ever came to visit her, though she knew not why, maybe people just shied away from mikos, thought they preferred isolation.

Ever since going to train and hone her miko powers she had grown to realize she had to start at least not mind if not enjoy being by herself. Her dear father was always away on some sort of trip so she could fend for herself quite adequately, but she was a social creature and got lonely very easily. That was why she offered that friendship so readily, because she needed a friend who not only had to stay be her side as per being a slave entailed, but actually wanted to. It was no fun having someone staying with you against their will.

Still, there were some times when being alone would be preferable, everyone would agree on that. Being alone was normal for her, and having him meant that this was not going to happen, ever again, in any set of circumstances. Though having someone, anyone with you, even a demon was better than being alone all the time, she was yet to wonder whether she was enjoying it as much as she perhaps should be. The feel of his constant presence was surprisingly natural, not at all overbearing, or even different. She felt that this was the way it should be and would feel strangely bare were he to leave suddenly.

He accompanied her everywhere, as in everywhere she would allow him to. Despite promising that they were now friends, and therefore equals, meaning the girl did not have the right to order him to do anything, Kagome was seriously tempted to pull rank on him several times. She almost did when his behaviour became that of a stalker whom she had given permission to follow her. After granting him his freedom as much as she believed she could, he still acted a little like a slave, warranting her reactions to his behaviour.

Coming with her to the market place was normal for people with slaves so they could do all the work while the owners shouted orders at them and loaded them with unnecessarily badly packed overflowing baskets and bags of food and other such goods. Kagome swore they were loaded like that on purpose with the hope they would split and give the leering bastards another excuse to spout off and spit on the demons.

However, having him 'stand guard' whilst she bathed was one of the things she was not going to stand for. She liked her space, and after learning to be alone this was to be expected, but she reckoned that this warranted her right to a little bit of privacy. Nobody would be okay with someone, especially someone of the opposite sex, even if they were a slave, or a friend being so close to them when practically naked. It was always practically for Kagome, she bathed in a bikini outfit just in case uninvited visitors arrived to ruin her peaceful evening, and of course for cases such as these. It was totally unnecessary and downright annoying.

He claimed he was being protective, as a friend of course. Bringing up the 'friend' business rendered her speechless because she had no comeback. He always won little arguments; she would soon learn that too, if the friend thing wasn't in place he could have always used something else. However, if they were not friends, he would not have wanted to guard her anyways and would instead more likely be the one to plot her death. He smirked at her in his victory, at which point, Kagome called him a jerk, flipped him off and stormed towards the hot spring. He considered himself dismissed and followed, but hid from her and masked his demon aura.

Sesshoumaru did not look at her as Kagome bathed herself; he had more honour than that. He simply stood guard as she did so to make sure that no unwanted visitors came by. He remembered his previous mistress again, it seemed that once free of her he was still doing what she ordered. She had made him spy on her while she bathed, ordered him to do so. It was not that she was not anything to look at, but he hated her. Sometimes she would make him join her, and then she would punish him for seeing her.

Now here he was spying on his new mistress bathing purely out of his own accord because he truly _wanted _her to be safe. She had even told him not to do it, but it was not an order really, and if it was he had gone against it with her in mind. His top priority after all was her safety, not just as a slave, but as a friend, and an alpha, for yes, he considered himself to be her alpha now. He had failed his previous pack when he was captured as a slave and was not going to fail her. After a ridiculously long bathe, Kagome stepped out of the water and Sesshoumaru stood nearby, guarding her while she dressed. She was only half dressed when a group of village boys who were new to the area stumbled across her half naked self.

What they should have done was apologise and run away before she killed them, or he did. Unfortunately for them, they didn't do this; they stayed and gawked at her half dressed body. They were not actually being a danger so Sesshoumaru decided to let Kagome deal with it. His collar prevented him for harming humans unless it was absolutely vital for the survival of his or her master or mistress. He stayed hidden. Then more boys joined them, and then there were six of them and Kagome was left to cover up her body with her hands while swearing at them to go away, using language he had never thought such a pure child knew.

They didn't do as she said though and in fact had the audacity to move closer to her. The biggest of the brutes had a smirk on his face as he and the others advanced on her. Growling, Sesshoumaru shot forward so he was standing in between Kagome and the group of boys. His eyes bled red as he saw people moving in on his territory, Kagome. Another thing the collar prevented was him shifting into his true form, but his inner best was still there within his mental confines, he was just not allowed to take over physically.

He heard the gasp of surprise from Kagome, she had told him to stay away, but she could reprimand him when she was safe again. He snarled in warning but the youths just sneered at him, "move over slave," one of them demanded. Sesshoumaru decided against correcting him as to what his status really was, as he planned not to actually kill the boys, he surmised Kagome did not need the knowledge that she had freed a demon slave and had made a friend out of him circulating around the village like the plague.

"I've got a better idea," he started in a quiet voice, "you move along and leave her alone before I am forced to kill you." A demon slave could not kill a human unless defending their master or mistress of course; they were fourth class citizens after all. She was not in a life threatening situation, but he was defending her and more than happy to kill who got too close. He knew he was acting in a suspiciously protective way, no slave was so protective of who owned them, and no slave liked who owned them either. But what they did not know was that he was not owned at all, and he was not a slave, but they did not need to know that

"You dare to threaten me, demon?" He scoffed, obviously not taking him seriously enough. But that was O.K. with him really. He did not need to take him seriously yet, as long as he finally got it into his head that he and his mistress/friend were not to be messed with then everything would go as planned. He would not have to kill the boys, they would go running off of his own accord, and Kagome would be thankful and safe. With a deadpan expression, Sesshoumaru allowed his claws to lengthen but did not have his poison drip from the ends. He did not need poison even if he was planning on killing them, but an injury should suffice.

He would have to remember to hold back, he all too easily kept forgetting how fragile humans were. Their flimsy skin broke with the slightest pressure or point and their pain tolerance was practically nonexistent from his experience. It made him wonder how they managed to rise to supremacy at all, but it was because their brains were more advanced than the youkai thought. The youkai underestimated them, and that is why they fell, and they have no Leader to guide them back to their rightful position at the top of society, not yet, but he was back now to lead his army. Once he was Lord of the West once more, the first humans he would dispose of were peeping Tom rapists like these vermin in front of him.

He would cut them and bruise them, and then they would hopefully run off knowing he was not to be trifled with. They might engage in battle, but they were little more than pups themselves, only a couple of years older than Kagome, they were driven by hormones and lust, no more. Faster than the eye could follow, he darted round the back of the leader and slashed his back, right between his shoulder blades. It was shallow, but long, it would hurt a lot for some time, but should heal rather quickly, even if it was a human.

He cried out in pain and staggered as he spun and fixed Sesshoumaru with a death glare, which he returned with more ferocity. Kagome was hurriedly putting on her clothes and Sesshoumaru was dominating the boys' field of vision once more. "Do I need to repeat myself," he growled, fangs lengthening inside his mouth. He bared his teeth so they could see this. They looked unsure. Sesshoumaru darted forward once more and three boys went flying into the nearest tree and crashed to the ground, dazed and injured but not dead.

He turned to the remaining two whom he had not touched. They looked angry rather than scared but decided that now their chances with Kagome were ruined it just was not worth fighting. Picking up their fallen comrades they ran off towards the direction of the village without one glance back. He did not take his eyes off from where they had disappeared off to. Pathetic really, that hardly took any effort at all. Once fully dressed, Kagome touched his elbow, signalling that it was okay for him to face her again. Sesshoumaru could tell she wanted to tell him off but didn't dare do so on account that he had just saved her.

"Thank you," she said seriously. She smiled up at him with an honest and grateful smile that was very hard not to return at least a little.

"Anything for a friend," he muttered, making her blush. Now he had cooled down from the flash of anger, he felt as if he could thank those boys as an idea flashed through his head. It was a rather wild plan, but he may be able to manipulate her into agreeing once he proved he would not look. "This Sesshoumaru would tell you 'I told you so' but does not think you would forgive him," he mused aloud wanting her reaction. He had said he followed her for her own protection and had said that while she was bathing it was no different. That had proved to be correct; in fact she was in more danger when she was bathing because she was undressed and practically irresistible to young males be they ningen or youkai, she was an incredibly attractive fertile young girl.

"You're right," Kagome agreed as she gathered her soaps and sponged together and walked on ahead of him, "I wouldn't."

He smiled at her as she walked on and decided it was time to put his plan into motion. "Speaking as a friend to you Kagome, this Sesshoumaru does not think it is wise for you to bathe without any form of protection."

"That was an isolated incident, it has never happened before, and I am sure it will not happen again."

"No it will never happen again."

"Thank you once more."

"You are not a child anymore," that was a lie, "but starting to come into adulthood, and a very attractive young adult you are turning out to be."

"Flattering yes, but I do not need someone to watch me as I bathe. In the future I will take some more weapons with me to ward off uninvited visitors."

"They will be a great lot of use to you at the water's edge while you are in the middle of the spring. Some demons can move incredibly fast, you would be dead or violated before you could move a muscle, Kagome."

"Do you have a better idea?" She snapped.

Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrows and Kagome came to the conclusion that she probably should not have asked this.

Her next thoughts were along the lines of 'why not?' He was after all her friend and being an Inu demon and way older than her was in no way romantically attracted to her, he was only watching out for her wellbeing and wanted her to be safe. Sesshoumaru was not as sinister as he would have everyone believe; he was actually quite a nice guy, sometimes.

"I am capable of purifying you, and I will do it slowly, and I will make sure it hurts from so much as one peek from you, do you understand?"

He smirked in triumph.

"Do I make myself clear?" She said a little louder to hide her embarrassment at allowing him to be within a mile of where she bathed.

"Crystal," he replied with an almost feral like grin.

He followed closely after the angrily huffing miko as she headed back to the house while he silently cheered. That hadn't taken nearly as long as he thought it would.


	5. The Demon's miko

**I simply had to bring Shippou into it, I adore him. for those of you confused, Sesshoumaru does care for her, he is just not sure how to react because he find himself caring more and more for her as time wears on and stuff... I apologise for bad writing. For those of you confused about the era, it is an alternate universe, sort of between feudal and present, 1800s maybe, but nothing from that time is brought into the fanfic.**

**Anyway, without out of the way, please read on and enjoy. There are still cyber cookies left for anyone who correctly guesses who Sesshoumaru's previous mistress is!**

**Don't forget to review!**

**The Demon's Miko**

Sesshoumaru smelt the salt from 50 paces back where he was in the kitchen fixing some food for the two of them. He went to investigate it, curious as to what had caused his human to burst into tears so suddenly, and so much of them too. He found her under the huge tree at the end of her piece of land, chin perched on top of her knees and arms wrapped around her. She was only a pup and when she was curled up like that, she seemed so small and even younger. Sesshoumaru wanted to protect her, but he did not know what from this time.

"What is wrong?" He asked her once he was no more than three paces away. Since he had been staying with Kagome, he had been saying more and more than he had ever thought he would. It was something about that girl who never stopped talking herself. She called for replies and he found he could not stop giving them to her. He liked talking to her, he found it more than simply enjoyable, it was liberating in a weird sort of way. It was not as if he had been forbidden to talk by his previous mistress, but more what he could say had been restricted

She did not ask him to constantly display his submission to her with words of praise and loyalty. She did not forbid him to put forward his views; she talked to him about everything and anything and encouraged him to do the same. He now knew, for example, that not only did she hate the slave trade, but she wished to do something about it. She however noted she did not have the power to make a difference, but what she did not know was that he did.

"It's my mother and grandpa; they can't come home for my birthday after all. Grandpa got injured and had to go to hospital. My mother is just a child inside her head so she can't come home by herself and is staying over there with him. My brother can come home in a few weeks, but I was really looking forward to seeing them again. They are always away, going off on holidays to try and help my mum and whatever thing in the mind it is that ails her, they never see me anymore. I guess it is just you and me now."

She was clutching a tear streaked piece of paper which was the letter telling hr the news. Without word Sesshoumaru took it and destroyed it with his acid whip. That was another thing he had learnt to do recently – or re-learnt. His youki had been trapped, locked inside him so he was unable to use it upon his capture. But once the oppression on him lessened when he became friend to this miko, he had been able to call upon his power once more.

Kagome's mouth dropped open with shock at his display of power and her hurt was immediately forgotten. According to Sesshoumaru that was how it should be, he had after all destroyed the letter which had been the thing causing her hurt. She had him now, and very soon he was the only one she was going to have if – or rather when things went his way. He needed to build up his power first, he could not charge into a war unprepared. He had been kept a docile dog for a long time, but once he was ready, the war would be started.

"Do not shed tears for that which you cannot change," Sesshoumaru said shortly in his quiet voice. Tears never helped anything, and she may be a child, no more than a pup in his eyes, but she was maturing quickly and soon those tears would be seen as a weakness. Once he was Lord again it would not do to have a weak human under him. She would have to be loyal and docile of course, but she was strong and would show it.

She nodded dumbly; still surprised by the whip he had conjured out of nowhere. "I prepared some food," he said, breaking her from her trance. "Go inside and eat something you have not had anything yet today. It is going to rain soon, you should go inside and dress warmer, it is not quite the height of summer yet."

That was how the next few days passed for him and his human. They did the chores she had to together and he would look after her like the pup she was. He would train in every moment he had, wishing he had a sparring partner, but he did not. It was not learning from scratch though of course, it was simply a matter of remembering what he had been forced to forget. Once it all came back to him though they could head out to war.

"Sesshoumaru, there is someone I want you to meet," Kagome appeared behind him while he was practising with his youki acid whip in the garden. He had sensed her coming and so was not startled by her presence though. "A human friend of yours?" He questioned, not bothering to turn to face her, determined to finish his set routine before turning to face her. "Do we need to put a facade?" He asked her, wondering whether he was going to have to pretend to be a slave, there were so few who would understand.

"No facade, ever, no matter what the circumstances. I would never ask you to do that, but especially for this visitor, no facade needed." Kagome sat back against a tree and motioned for him to join her which he did so. "This is a demon friend of mine," Kagome elaborated. "I found him abandoned on the streets some time ago and took him in. I would have had you meet him sooner, but I sent him to live in the neutral village where humans and demons live side by side. He lived there for a month or so because my father was coming home often and I couldn't have him find out about him. He's coming home to me today though."

"You have adopted a demon child despite you are a miko? I cannot even bring myself to be surprised at this. I am hurt however, we have been friends for an entire week and you have told me this piece of information." Knowing that she had other demons as friends was useful information, being former Lord of the West, all demons knew of him and he knew most of those who were under his rule. Of course he was not actually hurt by something so trivial, and both of them knew this, but Kagome mentally noted not to keep things from him again.

"It must have slipped my mind," she excused with a shrug. "His name is Shippou and he's a kitsune child. His parents were killed by two other demons and he was captured and sold. He was kept more as a pet than a slave because he was so young. He must have ran away, and well, I don't know what happened to him when he was all on his own, but he was feral when I found him. It took a long time to gain his trust, but he was always nearby. Eventually he started to talk to me and I learned I was the only one to show him such care before. I was only eleven when I first saw him, it took an entire year for him to trust me fully, but now he is like a son to me. He is loyal and trustworthy and we love each other very much.

He asked me if he could call me 'mother' not so long ago, and I accepted immediately. I was only thirteen at the time, and he's been following me around as my son ever since. He's very skilled in his fox magic for someone so young in my opinion, although I may be biased. Besides, I do not know how fat kitsunes usually develop their powers, this may be normal, or maybe if he was training with his parents they would have developed much further than they have done by now. He can transform into a great number of objects and animals, so successfully he can even fool me, although he never dares to seriously prank me, and he loves me too much anyway. I'd watch your back though, he is wary around strangers, and is rather adorably protective of me, he never holds back. I think you will grow to like each other though."

"It is not unusual for demon pups to be protective and often possessive of their mothers, I am not surprised that your Kit has these feelings towards you. I am surprised that he listened to you so much that he would stay away from you for an entire month; he must be incredibly loyal to you and trusts your power to be O.K by yourself. I would not worry about him using his fox magic on me though Kagome, I am more than a match for him. Depending on his age depends on how far his powers should have grown, yet he is a youkai who has been kept oppressed, the fact he has managed to develop them at all while still a child is commendable. And demons look out for each other, he will not dare to attack me, a potential ally. " Besides, he would probably detect I am a demon Lord, and not take his chances.

"I need to ask a favour of you," Kagome said in a tone that said that this favour had to be fulfilled, no room for argument.

"What do you ask?"

"Be nice to him, please. I know that he can be a little annoying at times and demanding, but I love him an awful lot, so be patient and don't hurt him."

"Give me more credit, I would not harm a child."

"I know, but I want to make you promise anyway."

"Fine, you have my word."

"Thank you Sesshoumaru."

Shippou arrived not long after their conversation had finished, in his fox animal form, his true form if you will, something he had perfected while in the neutral village only after a lot of practise. He jumped into her lap and licked her face before returning to his humanoid form and launching into a speech about how much he missed her. This went on for about five minutes, and all Kagome did was stroke his hair, exclaim that she missed him too and loved him. They hugged and even though Sesshoumaru was not five paces from them, he felt quite forgotten, and he felt...jealousy amongst other things. She was his miko and no one else could have her.

Of course it was not as if the Kit was romantically interested Kagome, that image was just wrong, but he was well on his way to ruling her. He was meant to be the one to rule that priestess and he still planned on doing so. He knew the Kit was well aware of his presence but was making a show of ignoring him to show him that Kagome was devoted to him, and he was not sharing. The pup was supposed to be protective though, and Kagome being a pup herself but only ningen needed all the protection she could get.

"Momma, who is this," Shippou asked, sitting in her lap and acknowledging Sesshoumaru's presence for the first time; about time too. He was already starting to dislike the little fox. He remembered though that he had promised not to let it show and he would stand true to his promises. He would be 'kind to him' as she had asked and not antagonize him as much as he may want to. The little kit looked to about seven to him, and came up to Kagome's waist, so he was rather big for his age when in his humanoid or fox form.

"I am Sesshoumaru, fox, a friend to Kagome." He narrowed his amber eyes at him and recognition and understanding ran through the young demon. This pleased the Taiyoukai greatly, it would not do to have some impudent little kit monopolize all her time when she was _his _human. So he was aware of his former status, his young face paled and he quivered slightly. He was known to be rather heartless and incredibly powerful. He pressed firmly into his mother as a wave of panic washed over him; Sesshoumaru quickly shot a warning glance to the fox to not say one word to Kagome. However loyal he may be to the girl, everyone feared him more.

Kagome watched the silent exchange between them, but thought nothing of it, she was not a demon, so did not know exactly what was going on. She assumed it was nothing of consequence and Sesshoumaru was safe with the knowledge that was not going to be changed. The more ignorant she was, the smoother his plan would go after all, so it was imperative she remained naive. He was not going to have his plans hindered by one big mouthed kit. The rest of the day passed in bliss for Kagome. The three of them sat and talked, well, Shippou talked, Kagome listened, and Sesshoumaru sat there looking dejected and forgotten.

Sesshoumaru was grudgingly beginning to respect the fox demon. He detected no lies yet he proudly talked about how he had helped save the village he was staying in from invading youkai, strictly minor youkai, but it was a battle even so. It seemed that his fox magic was more advanced than a pup's usually was at his age. This could be seen by the fact he had already achieved his second tail. The number of tails was like a medal to show his power. A full grown warrior fox usually had three or four tails. If this little kit kept the rate at which he was developing his powers (maybe under Sesshoumaru's training and guidance too) this Shippou fellow might be able to achieve seven tails at the height of his power.

It turned out that the boy could do a great many number of things. His fox fire was an ability born with but it rarely did much damage. It turned out though that his fire was one day going to as powerful as the flames that came out of a two headed staff Sesshoumaru once owned. He could change into a bird that could carry him and one other so he could travel through the sky, a horse so he could travel fast on land, and a fish, or at least some sort of water creature so he could travel through the water.

Along with different animals, he could change into a bow, and had done on a couple of occasions to aid Kagome against rogue demons when she was unarmed. He also owned a great number of what could not be defined as anything other than 'toys' really, but could be used as weapons, and had been apparently in his 'heroic' fight defending the village. He still had not shut up about it and was drinking in his mother's praise like a starved pup did milk.

It was true though that the boy was more powerful than most, and could potentially become a good ally. This was especially so seeming as he came from the neutral village. There were a great many demons there willing to start a war and all they needed was a leader. Shippou could gather them and then they could march onwards into the war Sesshoumaru was itching to start. He was a child too – and loyal to the girl who would very soon become his in every sense of the word– he would be easy to manipulate.

Shippou did not move from his spot in his mother's lap and Sesshoumaru could see that this was what Kagome had meant about being protective. It was not protective, it was borderline possessive, and the pup was only seven in human physicality, though over hundred years in age. This was ridiculous, the whelp was staking claim over her, like property, he was the one meant to do this. He was too young to protect her adequately, and when you stake claim over someone you have to have the strength to follow it through.

He was not going to challenge him like this; he would not let a kit challenge his claim. It seemed he needed to have a chat with the fox demon alone. "Shippou," he growled quietly, his deep baritone immediately gaining the attention of the two children. "I would like to talk to you alone," he did not give the little kit a choice, but turned to Kagome, "is that acceptable?" He could tell she was a little suspicious of his propositions, but thought the best in them.

She just nodded.

Shippou did not look like he wanted to go anywhere with the demon Lord, but a stony glare had him following at his heels obediently.

Once they were alone, Sesshoumaru let his feelings loose. "I am not planning any misfortune upon your mother; I only intend to protect her."

"I don't care, she's mine!" They were bold words for such a young pup and the possessiveness was clear in there, but he was only a child.

"Then perhaps you should learn to submit to a clear alpha!"

"Why do you want her, it is not as if she's your family? I love her and I'm not going to let anyone take her away! I don't care about your station!"

"I will not steal her from you. I do however plan to use her help in restoring my name and the name of all demons while I am at it."

After hearing his plans, Shippou's ears perked up. "She'll help you, she's on the side of us demons, she loves us, and she wants to help us. She said that she plans to fight for our rights, she just needs allies. But don't you dare hurt her in any way!"

"She is a strange human."

"Yep, but that's my mother. It is especially strange for her seeming as she is a miko, but she won't let anyone hurt me. If you do not mind me asking, how did you get yourself caught?"

"I will tell you one day maybe, but not all the details today. All I will tell you is that I surrendered my freedom in order to save a great many others. As you can see though, I am well on my way to restore my title and my Lands."

He blinked.

"Tell me fox, is she a friend to many other demons?"

"Yes, she befriends all demons she comes across, because she is on their side."

"She has a lot of demons following her then."

"We are not her demons Sesshoumaru Sama, she is our miko."

"What do you mean?"

"We think of her as ours. She is ours in a way. She swears to help us, that makes her pack and under our protection."

"What do you mean when you say 'our'?"

"Just the demons she is close friends with. There are a couple more other than me. We are going to use her to take back demon superiority. It is good to have you on the team Sesshoumaru Sama, we will definitely win now."

"I did not originally plan to work with anybody else besides the miko Kagome, but I am prepared to do a lot in order to recover my lands and title. I have been in servitude to humans for 20 years now, not including my time with Kagome, and I am not going to stay a slave for any longer."

"I don't really care what you do, if you decide to rage war against the humans I want to be there, but you must promise me something." What is it with that human girl and the need for promises? Getting someone to promise something was definitely a trait the kit picked up from his mother, demons make no such requests.

"I do not have to pledge anything to you kit."

"Please Sesshoumaru Sama, whatever you decide to do, whatever happens, keep my mother safe, and make sure no harm comes to her whatever. She is the only family I have; I don't think I can bear to lose my parent again."

He looked at his small demon child form and his large green blue eyes that had a few tears already beginning to well up in them. That was another thing he must have gotten from his human mother – the excess of useless, pointless tears. He loved the girl more than anyone else on the planet; he would die for her, a truly loyal son.

He was a loyal demon, and trustworthy, a mature one of honour despite his age and the fact he is a crafty fox youkai. No need to tell him he planned on making his mother his own personal pet once he ruled the lands again. Absentmindedly he lifted a hand and stroked his orange hair, which was something only an alpha would do. This was acceptance of the kit on his part, they could share her, and Kagome was their miko.


	6. Enter the wolf prince

**Hello everyone, I am here with the next chapter! I love Kouga more than everybody; he is one of my favourite characters so I had to bring him in. Please, read, review and enjoy everybody. No really, please review!**

**I have only given out one cyber cookie so far, try and guess who Sesshoumaru's previous mistress is people!**

**Well, by the chapter title it is pretty obvious what happens in this chapter, without further ado...**

**Enter the wolf prince**

"You know Sesshoumaru I've been thinking," Kagome started, "you are really powerful, and I was wondering if you knew/know anyone who can join us and start a campaign or something to abolish the slavery tradition. I mean, you have been really kind to me and I know that there are others too just like you, youkai do not deserve their lot in life, so I was wondering if you would join me in doing something about it."

Sesshoumaru could not believe his luck. He had been ready to use all of his manipulation to get this miko to join him in this mission and here she was being the one to put the idea forward. Of course they wanted different results, Kagome wanted demons and humans to coexist side-by-side, and well, that was just not going to happen. Demons were going to get a higher status of course, they were going to moved up the social status, right to the top in fact, and humans, well, there was going to be a role reversal.

Kagome did not need to know that yet though, there was no need to tell her everything. She was not going to trust him forever, not as soon as she got whiff of his plans. Still he could enjoy her friendship and trust as long as it lasted, afterwards, well, a demon should act like a demon. It took him a moment to remember she had asked him a question that required an answer: does he have any friends. Of course he does not have any friends, he is a demon Lord turned slave, and he has no one who cares about him bar her now.

He does have subjects however, loyal ones, and that was something not most slaves could boast about. But he was not a slave now, he was a demon Lord now, and he had power, lots of power, and he was not afraid or hesitant to use it. Of course there was the point of getting them here, for he could not leave her alone now. But that was what Shippou was for; he welcomed the kit into his now considerably small pack, making them three. There would soon be more though, lots more, and entire world of youkai would be his.

Now what was he going to ask of the kit? He could ask him to go and fetch his pack, or ask him to look after Kagome in his absence. Of course he did not want Kagome to ever be from his side but it would not be safe or practical for him to go with her. He could send the kit with something of his to show he was under his protection, but that would take a long time and he wanted to get a war underway quickly. Kagome was not in any danger here, and it was not like he had not already spent 20 years playing a pet to a witch, spending some time away from his newest interest was nothing more than a despondent sigh.

He would go with strict orders to the fox kit to keep his mother safe, he may be young, but he was strong and very capable. If he played his cards right, he would only be gone for 48 hours, after all, he did not have far to go. Lately he had reworked out how to create his youki cloud, he could fly now, and that, he remembered from his former life always saved time. What should he say in response, 'you have my cooperation?' That was not true, for they were not working towards the same goal, and it was he who needed her cooperation.

"I know people who will help," he said shortly. That was all he needed to say, she would understand, he had to go and get them. "They live in the village that you sent the kit to, the equal one, I shall go and send word for them. I shall be gone for approximately 48 hours; it does not take long for me to get there now I am practised in how to gather my youki to fly again now. I trust my absence for that length of time is acceptable?" He still asked, though he knew not why, perhaps it was the necklace that still made him slightly submissive. Though he was not used to asking and not of young human girls either, he gave orders.

"Sesshoumaru," she smiled at him warmly, "I have lived for 15 summers without a slave, I am sure I can manage another two days." She still called him that but it held no malice just as it held no meaning. She said it as a tease; because sometimes the collar would make him do things far more demeaning than asking her permission of something or a question. That was the power of the collar he wore, not only was her unable to hurt her and had to protect whoever owned him, sometimes his will was taken from him. Sometimes he bowed without realizing, the shows of respect, he was not even conscious of his actions.

Such shows of subservience he found were not awful to him. When his previous mistress owned him, the collar was a curse. He wanted to kill her so badly, but he was forced to save her and grovel at her feet like the dog she said he was. Oh how far she made him fall, from the strongest demon Lord to the lowliest of slaves, all in a week's time. His hands clenched at the memories, his anger spiking as he thought about how easily he fell, how quickly he was captured and turned entirely into a slave as if he knew of nothing else.

But he had had to do it, he reminded himself quickly as a form of condolence. He had not had a choice, he had to do it, and it was the only way he could save them. If he had not done it, they would have had to suffer as well. It was his job as ultimate alpha and their Lord to save them; they had been counting on him to do so. He had fought, it was not as if he surrendered, he fought to his very last breath and he thought they had killed him. He wished they had killed him, but alas he had woken in a cage and was sold to that witch.

He had been bought from her to be given to another. He had thought that the torment and humiliation was just going to start all over again. How wrong he had been when he was presented with this girl. Of all the mistresses he could have nightmares about gaining he was giving one who could not care less about him being youkai and her being miko. He had been landed with a mere pup that not only did not give orders but turned to him for answers and advice. Like right now, she wanted his help, and he would give it.

It was his job now that he had been saved to bring him and his subjects back to their rightful position at the top. Now he had this pure hearted pup on his side he could find those that were his and exact his revenge. His claws flicked in anticipation, it had been far too long since he felt his enemies' blood on his claws. He had felt the warmth of his own blood; oh he remembered well, how his previous mistress would make him 'punish' himself. She had a number of torturing devices and he would self flagellate until she told him he could stop.

"I shall leave at nightfall," he said shortly, turning away and heading into the garden to practise flying, he was going to have to keep it going for some time after all. Of course usually he could do it without any concentration for days, but he was still rising back to full power. It should not take long now though before he was back to his former self, perhaps another couple of weeks, it would be shorter if he had a sparring partner. Perhaps he could stay longer in the village and practise with some of stronger subjects.

"Should you not get some rest instead of training, you are already incredibly strong," she argued, putting a hand on his arm. She was looking after him again, he doubted she even realized it; she was the pup here, if anything it should be the other way around. Well he did look out for her and would continue to do so, it was the least he could do really. It was nice though he had to admit to have someone care about you, to have someone concerned for you well being. He smiled inwardly, this girl was changing him.

"I do not need as much rest as humans; surely you know that by now." He went to bed hours after she retired to sleep, and rose before dawn. While humans needed about seven hours of sleep a night, demons only needed three or four to be fully refreshed. Being the Taiyoukai he was he did not sleep every night, and only then his sleep was light so he was ready and alert to any signs of danger. Still, she knew that, she was clever and she knew that, and she still said it, because she did not want any harm to come to him on his journey.

He did not listen to her and went to practise anyway, he had ample strength, and he needed to meditate to concentrate for long enough. It grew cold outside while he was meditating and he was vaguely aware of warmth surrounding him to suppress his involuntary shiver. He cracked open an eye to see a blanket had been laid over him and his amber eyes flicked to the house. He saw the ends of black strands of hair disappearing back inside the house. He smiled outwardly this time, that girl – that was all he could think.

When darkness covered the sky he decided it was safe enough to leave. The girl was inside asleep, with the fox kit standing guard. He had scared the fox into defending her a s a warrior, not that he thought any harm would befall her, it shouldn't do. He felt protective of her though, and not just because of the collar, he wanted to keep her safe. He would defend her and protect her because he _wanted _to do so. He gathered the youki under his feet to rise into the sky but was stopped by Kagome who came running out of the house, calling for him.

He felt no aggravation and stopped, dropping gracefully back to the ground in a swish of white silken robes, landing in front of her. She was clutching something in her hand, a small box in one hand, which she held out to him once she reached him. "Take this with you," he looked down at it, taking it without even realizing he had done so. "It is sushi, you know, what I gave you when I first met you, you said it was your favourite."

The girl was doing it again, looking after her. He did not need nourishment every day, and she knew that too. In fact the witch who had owned him last had weathered him into going for weeks without food, and he knew just how long he could stand. He could last a fortnight before he grew very hungry, and four weeks before true hunger clouded his mind into something of a feral beast, and he could last six weeks before illnesses related to starvation began to kill him. Kagome had spoiled him, and he knew it. He only really needed to eat three times a week, but he had been training and ate dinner with her every day.

He would be gone for merely two days, and the most hunger he would feel would be the mere thought of food passing through his mind and he would surely be fed once he arrived in that village. Yet the girl had thought about that and put together a meal for him, and not just that, but had thought about it too to make sure she gave him something nice to eat. The girl had gotten up after she retired to bed to give it to him too.

He did not need it, but he did not decline. He smiled at her and nodded in acceptance and thanks, taking the box and tucking it into his sleeve. Her giving him the food was not enough, she had to take things one step further, "take care," she offered just as he rose up to the sky. He was beginning to gain real deep affection for that kid.

The flight was smooth and he was not spotted once and he did not plan to be either, so high in the sky and covered by night blackness anyway. His unhindered travel was peaceful and the sushi was exquisite just as promised, there was nothing else to do so he ate what he had been given. It was about time he gathered his underlings together, for with them, he would stand proud and tall. The world may be in disarray now, but when the Lord comes back, you would be surprised how much order can be derived from total chaos.

That was why he was named 'perfection', for he could bring perfection to everything he had a part in. After a six hour flight he landed in the village and was immediately greeted by one of his most loyal subjects and good friend, the alpha of the free pack, the ones who were never captured, Kouga the wolf prince. He must have sensed his overwhelming aura, but he did not greet him with questions and exclamations of his freedom, that much was obvious, there were more pressing things the Lord needed to know. He greeted him with a smile and was about to ask him where the rest of his subjects were when he noticed the glint from his blue eyes were missing, and he was dishevelled, he had been injured badly recently.

"They're all gone Sesshoumaru," he croaked, and the dog knew what the wolf was telling him. Tears welled in Kouga's eyes, "I couldn't stop them," he said and laid his head against Sesshoumaru's chest seeking vestiges of comfort. "I tried, but there were too many, I tried, I am sorry, I'm so sorry," he murmured, and Sesshoumaru raised his arm to wrap around the quivering form of the wolf. But his own control was breaking.

This was a fate worse than death, to be once free and then captured, to have your Lord returned, and still fall. "Ginta and Hakkaku were both taken, they were trying to save me, oh, and Ayame, they took her too. If you had seen Jaken, for once, you would have been proud, he was brave and he fought well, but they took him too. And Ah Un, they used him as a beast of burden to carry the newly acquired slaves. They have never attacked the village before, the only ones who got out, the only ones left are me and Hiten."

Sesshoumaru planned to take it calmly, but his control slipped anyway. He sank to his knees beside Kouga who had also fallen and pointed his snout to the sky. Together they let loose a heartbreaking, gut wrenching howl of loss and unspoken promise. The humans would pay for their comrades, they would free them, and they would see them again, safe and sound. This was not the time to be biding time and hiding in dark corners. The Lord was back now, a leader was all they needed, and it was time to fight back.

The youkai were going to war.


	7. That's why I'm Alpha

**I am a Shippou fan so this is a little look into his childishness, because there is not much of it in this story so far, and he matures throughout it too, so it really is needed. This also explores how Sesshoumaru became the leader of the group; well you did not expect him to be anything less than the ultimate alpha for long did you?**

**That's why I'm Alpha**

Sesshoumaru had been gone for thirty hours now, and Kagome was actually beginning to miss him. In the week she had had him around, she had gotten used to his presence and now that he was gone, even for the shortest amount of time was a weird sensation. Even during the darkest hours of the night he was there, and if she were ever to cry out in her sleep because of a bad dream or because, well for any reason at all, he would instantly appear. He was someone who was always there for her, a good friend, but so much more. He was torn between being a slave and being a friend, and he was not quite sure how to be either.

Kagome lifted her hands to brush her bangs out of her face as the wind whipped them around to block her vision. At least he had left a suitable substitute; Shippou was with her in his and her family's absence. There was never a quiet moment or a boring one with the energetic little fox kit bouncing around all over the place. He made sure she was occupied at all times either by practising i.e: showing off his fox magic, or drawing pictures for her, or playing some sort of game he'd conjured up in his head and insisting she join in.

After two of these games Kagome decided she did not want to play any more of them. They were far too long and complicated to understand, and Shippou being a child was not a good teacher, and neither was he patient. It was however incredibly cute how angry he would get that she did not understand the rules that he were explaining to her so clearly. She taught him how to play 'it' and he took to the relatively easy game quickly. The countless times he wanted to play games with her went much more smoothly after that.

Kagome was busy cooking a meal for Sesshoumaru, wanting a good meal waiting for him when he came home – this was his home now after all. She got halfway through when she ran out of ingredients, so she had to leave the meal unfinished while she went to the market in the centre of the village to pick up supplies. This was just annoying, but then it was her fault, she should have been paying attention to the amount of food she had in the house. She had given the last of the good sushi to Sesshoumaru for his flights after all, so there was not even enough for a snack to give to a complaining Shippou in the living room.

"Shippou, I need to go to the village to pick up some supplies to finish the meal, and I'll pick you up something to eat while I'm there O.K? I won't be very long; I should be back in about an hour, maybe an hour and a half." She grabbed some money and headed out the door to her hut and just about made her way out of it before a suddenly frightened fox attached himself to her shoulder and refused to let her out of his sight.

"I'll go with you, mama, I promised alpha that I will keep you safe," a steely expression was on his face. Kagome rolled her eyes and wondered just what exactly the demon said to her surrogate son to make him so determined to look after her. She was more than capable of going to the village market and back without getting scathed in any way. Though then again, Shippou had always been adorably protective, and she knew he was a quarter of her size, and could fight with fox magic but could barely look after himself let alone her, but she soaked up his affection like a sponge, it was nice to know someone cared so much.

"Alright you can come if you like," Kagome conceded knowing there was no way he would be left behind, so there was no point arguing. "I am setting one condition though, if you are seen you could get hurt and get us both into a lot of trouble so you have to either turn into a rabbit or something, or stay in my bag." Two minutes later, Kagome headed towards the market with a small white rabbit perched on her shoulder.

When they reached the village, the only stares she got were from demons. She was known as the miko who detested the keeping of slaves and on her shoulder was a youkai, the demons could sense that if the human ere ignorant of it. They were careful not to be too obvious for if they were, the innocent rabbit may be suspect of something. As bitter as some demon slaves may be, they would not subject another to the same pain.

Shippou whispered into her ear as she brought the ingredients she needed to finish the meal she had started. He was very useful as he could smell deceit and such like much in the same way Sesshoumaru was able to. She was much too trusting and the little fox told her when she had been short changed, or sold a faulty product. He kept his whispering quiet, but being a mother for the boy, she was attuned to the sound of his voice. Those large brown eyes of the innocent rabbit on her shoulder missed nothing, and told her everything.

Her undoing, or more, his undoing, came in the form of a cake. Shippou saw the fruity, sweet piece of food, and mixed with his growing hunger it was too much for him to bear to watch pass. "Kagome," he started, making his voice higher so she would not be able to resist. He as a good kit most of the time, but he was a crafty fox, he knew how to manipulate. "No," Kagome answered shortly, before he finished his request. He knew how to manipulate, but she knew how to manage him, it would fit she pick this moment to become immune to him.

"But Kagome," he began to argue as it drew nearer, it looked like the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. No matter what he needed that cake, it looked like a meal fit for a king, fit for a lord, like his alpha Sesshoumaru – oh that was an idea. "Please mama, I know you like the look of it too, and you know Sesshoumaru sama would like it too Kagome." He knew Kagome had affection for him and so would likely buy something that would make him happy, and no one would be displeased at the sight of such a delicious desert.

"I know that," Kagome said, agreeing for her and Sesshoumaru, it did look very nice. "However, it is too expensive; I do not have the money to go throwing around on things like that." She tried to sound mature about the matter, but the truth was, she wanted that pudding too. "It wouldn't be throwing money away," Shippou argued, thinking that cake was worth not eating for an entire week for, not thinking ahead at how hungry he might get in that week after the cake was finished. "Please, just this once, I'll never ask for anything again."

'Yeah right,' Kagome scoffed, 'if I had a penny for every time he had said that to me I would be able to buy that cake and think nothing of it.' Still, perhaps she may be able to afford a bit of it, if she just asked for one slice, she may be able to afford it. "And Shippou if you even think about using your fox magic to swindle that man out of his cake, I will send you back to the village." They both knew it was an idle threat, but Shippou got the message – don't do it.

"Excuse me sir, could I perhaps buy one slice of that cake instead of all of it?" She questioned the man behind the stall.

"You certainly can, that will be one piece of silver though."

"Go on Kagome," Shippou urged in her ear, "you know it is worth it."

Kagome was not convinced.

Her fate however was in that moment decided for her as the dog at the man's feet started to bark very loudly, not at her, but the rabbit on her shoulder. Shippou tried to hide in Kagome's hair, but fell off her shoulder in the process and the dog bit his tail. He shrieked in outrage, pain and shock, turning into his fox form and revealing himself.

They were done for now.

The man's eyes widened, "a demon," he growled, reaching out and grabbing him by his furry orange tail, holding him up in the air. "How convenient, I've been looking for a little runt to play as chew toy for my dog."

"Stop it!" Kagome cried out, "let him go right now, he is only a kid!"

"He's a demon!"

"And you are a big bully!"

"And you are the demon lover," he growled, "you are infamous in the village for those ridiculous antics of yours!"

"So what if I am, it is better than being heartless like you?"

Frightened at being literally thrown to the dogs, Shippou bit hard into his captor's wrist, trying to make him drop him so he could run to the safety of Kagome's arms. He did not get the desired effect; the man just growled in irritation and hit him over the head so hard he went falling to the ground. "Shippou!" Kagome cried in alarm, worry and anger, throwing a punch at the man who dared assault her son.

It drew blood from his nose but did not injure him nearly as much as Kagome would have liked. He pushed her over and she struck her head on some rocks as she fell. She watched in hazy vision as Shippou threw his weapons at the man and scorched him and his with his fox fire. Unfortunately, it was too much for him and he found himself dangling in the air by his orange tail once more. He planned to call out for Kagome to save him but did not quite get round to it and the name he actually cried was that of his alpha.

"LORD SESSHOUMARU! HELP!"

It was as if the Kamis themselves decided to answer them with a blessing. In a flash of silver light, there was a sword tip protruding through the man's chest. He missed his heart though and his grip on Shippou loosened as he slipped into unconsciousness and fell to the ground. He was just thankful no one else had witnessed the event. Sesshoumaru caught him as he fell, holding him to his side with one hand wrapped around his middle. He strode over to Kagome who was nursing her head with one hand and reaching out to his with the other.

With his free hand, Sesshoumaru hoisted the girl over his shoulder and sped back to the house with his youki cloud under his feet. Not a word was said until they were both tucked up in Kagome's bed and she was the first one to speak. "Sesshoumaru, you came for us." It was a statement, not a question, but gratitude.

"Of course," he muttered, sitting on the foot of the bed. "I had to come and save you, it is fortunate I came back early. I left you for a mere 33 hours, it was not a long time, but you managed to get yourselves in danger."

"I'm sorry," Shippou said, "I failed to protect her."

"Yes you did, but you also fought for her, which is commendable."

"You beat him so easily," Kagome noted, "it was frightening, but amazing at the same time, and kind of embarrassing in a way too."

"I had the element of surprise," he reasoned.

"Still... thank you Sesshoumaru, thank you. You were so quick, so easy. You were so skilled, in a second you had handled the situation with perfection. You were there right when we needed you, not only did you knock him out, you carried us home and nursed our injuries." Well he licked the cuts shut, that counted in her book. "You did not have to do any of it, but you did, you did so much more than any friend usually would."

The only answer he gave to that was a 'hn', and though Kagome did not know it, it was the start of his change. He was not her slave in that moment any longer; he had completely morphed into the Lord of the Western Land, about to enter a war for supremacy. In that moment, for reasons not known, the collar lost its power, Sesshoumaru felt it fade. Maybe it was because he was a strong Taiyoukai and his will had not been crushed like before, but in that moment he reverted back to the proud demon he once was.

Shippou being a demon understood what had happened in his next comment. To Kagome, it just sounded like an egotistical reply to her last comment. Both boy and girl were happy though for separate reasons to hear him say those words. It made them feel safe and secure, and Shippou for one knew he would follow that man to the ends of the earth if it was but asked of him. "That is why I am Alpha," he stated proudly.

And unspoken, but portrayed, '_That is why I am your Alpha.'_

And he was, Shippou and Kagome slept in the safe knowledge of that declaration and the watchful, caring eye of their guardian, their protector, their savoir, and ultimately, their Alpha, Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands.


	8. Meet the pack

Snowbirdyoukai – I did not say that he brought the merchant back with him, did I? If so, sorry for any confusion, but no he just left him unconscious in the street, too injured to move for some time. They're going to be on the move from now on anyway, so it really does not matter.

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! I have decided this story really needs more love! Hehe, I'm shameless with no modesty.**

**Meet the pack**

Kagome was going through the daily rituals of washing her clothes when Sesshoumaru appeared out of nowhere, tapping her shoulder, scaring her half to death. Once she had calmed her wildly beating heart, and he had finished smirking at her, he started telling her of her adventure in the neutral village. "My friends have been captured, my beta told me, they relied on me to protect them as their Lord and alpha, and I tried, but being captured myself left them vulnerable, so I have failed them in a way. I need to free them, save them."

"You mean go to their slave market?" Kagome questioned, wringing out her favourite top and hanging it over a line she had drawn up. "You know there are demon slayers and mikos not like I, they won't be on your side, and warriors there don't you? It is dangerous for one like you, I mean just look at you, you would fetch a high price. I don't want you to be captured again I would have a hard time getting you back. I mean yes you are very strong and skilled, but even with my help you cannot possibly hope to win against everyone.

"I shall have help, from the remainder of my pack. There are only two members left alive and free in the village, yet they are the strongest. I have been training too, regaining and relearning my power and strengths, I shall win this battle and free my pack. They have come to stay with us for a couple of days until we are ready and rested to depart. You do not mind I hope, though the wolf is prone to eat more than is needed."

Then suddenly there was a swirl of energy and a wolf demon appeared in the garden and snatched up Kagome's hands in both of his. "Kagome," he said in surprise and affection, "it has been a long time, and how is my woman today?" Of all the wolves he could have been talking about, Sesshoumaru had to go and make pack out of this one. This was just her luck, and here she was thinking her life was going to be peaceful once she convinced him to leave her alone. He had to come charging back into her life in a swirl of dust, his trademark entrance, he did it just to show off his speed, his only redeeming quality.

Oh she had nothing against the wolf; really she loved him very much. But she loved him as a good friend, and a friend only, the same way she loved all of her friends, like Sango and Miroku, Keade and now Sesshoumaru. Yet it was clear that he wanted something more every time that she saw him, or he saw her. The constant 'my woman' claims got on her nerves because she belong to no one but herself and she did not like him in the same way he seemed to like her., and it did not help that he was the densest male on Earth.

"Hey Kouga," Kagome said, lifting her arms and giving him a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek, the way she always greeted her friends. She'd greet Sesshoumaru that way too, but she was not as familiar with him yet, and to be honest, he freaked her out kind of badly still. He got stronger each day, and it was clear to her he was an alpha and a Lord and was never meant to be a slave. He was way out of her league and in normal circumstances, 250 years ago, she would never have met him, she was glad for that chance at least.

Of course she probably should not greet Kouga in that way either seeming as he took everything the wrong way, but it would feel as if she was shunning him otherwise seeming as she greeted everyone else in that way. Besides, she was glad to see him in a way, it had been a long time, but he was someone who she did not mind only seeing once every month or so, his presence and persistence in his claims wore on her.

Eventually the young man let her go, the girl he had claimed as his woman ever since she was thirteen years old. "You two know each other," Sesshoumaru stated, it was not a question, and very suddenly wrapping his arms around her from behind in a territorial claim, not that Kagome knew that, and Kouga just ignored it. He said no more but it was obvious he was expecting an explanation and Kagome did not see why he should not know. After all they were all friends here, in fact they were more than that, and they were all pack now.

"Yeah, I met Kouga during my last year studying under Keade. He was injured by some humans who tried to make slave out of him. They got a collar on him and he somehow managed to get it off, and you know how they work, so he started to bleed to death. I found him in the nick of time; he only had seconds left when I got to him even with his superior youkai healing abilities. I managed to heal him with my miko abilities and established a friendship. Though I have never actually agreed he had been calling me 'his woman' ever since."

"Kagome is a coy girl; she still needs time to come to terms with being a mate of a demon such as myself, it is enough to make anyone shocked. She'll realize her place with me eventually though, rest assured of that." He was so confident in himself she almost believed him herself, but she was far too young to even think about all that sort of stuff, it was too mature a subject, and he had been known to openly talk about sex and pups with her before.

"By the way runt," Kouga was talking to Shippou now who had appeared from the house after a nap, "Hiten should be arriving any moment, he has strict orders to lay off and be nice, if you even want to stick around." Hiten was known to be a little over the top in his 'love' for the boy and succeeded in scaring him rigid. His problem did not lie in his lack of love for Shippou but rather his exuberant way of expressing it, out of guilt more than anything else.

Shippou puffed out his chest and glared at Kouga with his big green eyes. "Hiten does not scare me anymore, I'm a strong demon now."

"Of course you are."

"I mean it Kouga! I can take whatever he throws at me!"

No sooner had he said that when said thunder youkai appeared. "SHIPPOU KUN!" He boomed in a voice that was a cross between a shout and a squeal. He rushed forward after dropping from the sky and scooped the fox child up in his arms, squeezing him close in a tight hug. Shippou immediately lost all of his confidence and bit the thunder youkai holding him, and jumped onto Sesshoumaru's shoulder, seeking safety in his alpha.

Hiten looked put out and rubbed his wrist, "what was that for Shippou kun, I was only saying hello," he grouched with a pout. Shippou was not fooled and glared daggers at him, hiding behind Sesshoumaru's curtain of silver hair. While Shippou hated him, Kagome and Kouga found the antics rather cute, Kagome disliked Hiten, but felt sorry for him too and had been trying to get Shippou to accept him for a long time now.

Hiten's brother, Manten, killed Shippou's parents, by accident mind you, and Shippou promptly tried to kill him. Hiten defended his brother fiercely, not knowing why that powerful if young cub was trying to kill his beloved family. While he would let no harm befall Manten he was disappointed he had killed innocents in his plight to get away from the humans. Manten had run away after he learnt that while his brother still loved him it would never be like before, and he had not been heard of since now... he too had been captured. Hiten had been trying to take in the fox as his responsibility ever since, but Shippou was terrified of him and traumatized, the great 'love' he expressed for the kid only served to frighten him further.

"Kouga! Hiten!" Sesshoumaru called them to attention, not at all fazed by the kit on his shoulder behind his hair. "Let us go into the garden, I want to test your strength." With that he stalked away and went into the garden. Kagome made to follow and Sesshoumaru wrapped an arm around her waist, snarling at a particular wolf in reprimand as he grabbed for her. He was going to have to keep a careful eye on that particular pack mate. They were pack brothers and close friends, they always had been, they were both Taiyoukai after all once upon a time and their lands were allied, this was before the fall of the youkai. He refused to let their affections of the same girl get in the way of their rather strong relationship; it could prove to be fatal.

The 'test' of strength was one of the most vicious things Kagome had ever seen. Two minutes into the testing of Kouga's strength, speed and skill, Kagome called a stop to it. It involved Sesshoumaru throwing his whip at him, trying to kill him and Kouga sparring back, only there was nothing jokey about it, it was very serious. "This is a barbaric test Sesshoumaru," she said as she beckoned Shippou who was shivering in a tree to her open, waiting arms. "I understand this is some Taiyoukai thing, but not in front of my son please."

"You son is no stronger to battle, he should be allowed to see this, though I shall not test him, I already know the kit's strength." He knew though that the real reasoning for Kagome's will to leave was more to do with the fact that she was a miko who did nothing but heal and did not want to see such barbaric measures herself. Still, the fact still remains, she needs to see this as well, soon they will be going to war, she needed to get used to seeing bloodshed. He would not hurt his pack mates badly; surely she knew that, he just needed to know how much training, if any, was needed before they went to war with the humans.

"Fine, do what you want, but I am Shippou's guardian and I do not think he needs to see this, we are going inside, enjoy your test," she said with finality and stalked away with her kit in her arms. "I shall prepare a salve for all your injuries and some food, and with our new additions to the pack, we are going to run out of said food very soon. Come tell me when you have finished, Shippou and I shall be inside," the words fell on deaf ears; the 'test' was back on.

Once Sesshoumaru, Kouga and Hiten were all panting on the ground outside, Sesshoumaru admitted he was impressed with them all and their skills. "We are ready to fight now," Sesshoumaru noted to his companions, we shall leave at dawn. I have heard rumours from the village that the slave market containing the rest of the pack is not far from here, about half a day's trek."

"It will be a week or more with a human hindering our process. She will be coming won't she?" Questioned Hiten. It was not that he wanted her to come, or wanted her to stay, Sesshoumaru was not her slave anymore, but it had become clear to him his alpha showed affection for the girl and therefore she belonged to him now, ironic, but to be expected from Sesshoumaru.

"She will be coming, and she will be carried by this one to save time."

"Oh, we know you are free now, you are reverting back to the third persona," Kouga smiled.

"Sesshoumaru," Hiten cut in, "where the slave market is, you do realize we will be passing right by, you know... her."

He just nodded, yes, to say her name in front of him was forbidden, his pack mates could tell that, yet they all knew of her, his previous mistress.

"I think," Sesshoumaru smiled, and it was the smile he always showed when he was about to kill something, "it would not hurt to pay her a little visit."

"Well I don't know about you," Kouga said, getting up and heading for the house, "but I fancy some of my woman's cooking after that work out. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, I want to get fed and then go to bed."

"Another thing wolf," Sesshoumaru snarled, "she does not belong to you."

Kouga narrowed his eyes but knew better than to argue with his alpha.

Two hours later four demons and one human sat in the lounge part of her house. Kouga and Hiten and Shippou complimenting and thanking her for the food, and Sesshoumaru just sat there staring at the exchange, saying nothing and basically being Sesshoumaru. "I do not have places for you all to sleep, I mean I have my room and Sesshoumaru has my father's, there aren't really any others. I guess one of you can have the settee and the other chair. Well, it is only for one night and I guess you will be sleeping rough tomorrow night if you want to set off and rescue your friends."

"It is fine Kagome," Hiten assured.

"If you are that worried about it I could share with you," Kouga suggested hopefully.

A snarl from Sesshoumaru put an end to that comment.

"I share with Shippou anyway, not enough room for another one. Well it is getting late," Kagome said, suddenly tired, "Wake me in the morning when you want to leave, but I am not an early morning person, Goodnight Kouga kun, Hiten san, Sesshou."

They waited until they heard the click of the bedroom door and then both Kouga and Hiten turned on their alpha with confused and incredulous gazes, "SESSHOU?"


	9. Between humanity and beasts

**O.K so this is the next chapter people, I hope you like. Be nice to me and give me loads of reviews so more people will read it and enjoy its epicness! *I'm shameless*. I promise you will like this chapter; I enjoyed writing it in any case. Saphireanime over and out – enjoy the chapter.**

**Between humanity and beasts**

Kagome walked alongside Sesshoumaru with Shippou on her shoulder while Hiten and Kouga trailed behind. They had been going for a while and Hiten had been doing nothing but complain about how slow a human's and child's pace was compared to Taiyoukai like the rest of them. Each time she had heard the grouch Kagome had picked her pace, but it still was not enough. She felt like reminding him though that while he was complaining about her slow pace he was the one that dawdled behind while she strode out front with Sesshoumaru. She reckoned this was some pack hierarchy thing though rather than stamina, you are not to walk in front of the alpha. But Sesshoumaru was _their _alpha, he was only her friend.

She could keep going at this speed for ages, especially seeming as Sesshoumaru had told her that they did not need to bring any provisions with them. Her pride of course was squashed as per fate's twisted sense of humour when they encountered a sheer cliff face. There were minimal finger hold metres apart, and without a harness, it was deadly, especially seeming as it was so tall. It was a simple answer; there was no way she could climb that.

While she had been told they were going to a demon market, Kagome was not exactly sure where Sesshoumaru was headed and what he planned to do once he arrived. "Where are we going exactly Sesshoumaru?" She asked, casting the sheer cliff face a sceptical look as they neared it, she did not fancy her chances with such a treacherous climb, it was difficult and dangerous. She was definitely insisting on going first, that way she could be caught by those who followed her, Kouga, Hiten and Sesshoumaru when she fell.

Plus, Kagome did not like silence for any long amount of time and much preferred to fill these gaps with idle chatter. They had been walking in practically silence ever since they left her house an hour ago, only exchanging grunts and directions since then and it was driving hr crazy. Even when she was alone in her house she verbalized her thoughts and talked to herself to avoid silence. Kagome was famous for being an idle chatterer and was known to not only be capable but willing to fill in all sides of a conversation.

Sesshoumaru hardly said anything at all, only speaking when necessary, even after spending a lot of time with her. Kagome had found that this was true for Hiten as well, though Kouga and Shippou were rather childish like her so talked more. Kagome was beginning to wonder whether it was a demon or a Taiyoukai thing, after all, after being oppressed slaves, nobody wanted a talkative one, they were just asking to be broken if they spoke a lot.

Sesshoumaru was not much of a talker, being the calm and serene (but deadly) demon he was, yet he always answered direct questions; though Kagome reckoned this was something to do with him being a slave. She had actually removed the collar after Hiten had told her she had not actually formally released him from her service until she took it off him. She was glad in a way Sesshoumaru had not been the one to point it out, either he did not care, or just assumed she knew and waited for her to decide if and when to do it. Still, he had been a slave for some time and what is more, he liked her, he told her what she wanted to know. What she did not know was that he had not asked her to remove the collar because it no longer worked.

"You said you wanted to stop the slave trade," he said simply, "such a task is not as impossible as you previously thought. Operations on such a huge scale as this require you take things slowly, and take thing away and back bit by bit. It just so happens that an old friend of mine, a loyal one in fact is being caged and about to be sold not too far from here. The particular market is notorious amongst demons for their harsh treatment of them, it was the one I was kept in before I was sold to my previous mistress and then from her to you."

She saw a hurt look go over his face, it was only for a moment, but that flicker of emotion was there. He hardly ever showed emotions of his stoic face, so this was different for him, and Kagome knew that he must be really hurting inside. He said he used to be a ruler, an alpha to a large pack and the fact they were being hurt while he was free tore him apart. "Don't worry Sesshoumaru, we will get your friends back and they will be O.K, I promise."

"Among those captured are Hiten's brother, Manten, Kouga's friends, Ginta, Hakkaku and Ayame, my friends, and innocents, many demons are innocent. I have stayed there before, the youkai are treated so harshly, they are starved, beaten, and kept in a small cage like a wild animal. I refuse to let such treatment continue to be exacted upon members of my pack. I was their alpha was and I still consider them to be my responsibility. Their well being in my first priority, it always has been, so it is imperative we arrive quickly to liberate them."

Amber eyes slid to lock with navy blue swirls which had widened in fear, disgust, anger and sadness at what he had revealed to her, her shock showed as confused and bitter furious tears glittered in her eyes. "That is awful," she breathed lowly, unable to generate much volume, "I am so sorry Sesshoumaru, I mean it isn't my fault, but they are humans. Some demon holders are pretty bad, I mean just as people in general and a lot of the act different, bad to whole new extremes when around youkai, exerting their power just because they can. However I just had no idea a human would sink to such low levels of savagery."

"If this shocks you then you would be surprised by the depths some humans will sink to. I have come across some humans who are more akin to beasts than any youkai I have met in my time; the barbarians will hunt demons purely for the thrill of the chase, for sport. It is not uncommon for humans to handicap their victims too, seeming as they do not stand a chance against a demon's superior strength or speed." His face took on that hurt expression again and Kagome was sure she did not want to hear more, but she could also see that he needed to say it. because he was responsible for those undergoing the treatment it hurt him like it did them, so he needed to get such a burden off his chest.

She was about to reassure him when he carried on with the description of the torture all of his own accord. "They would for example gash their thigh or cut the tendon in one of their feet to make running and fighting a lot more difficult for them. What is more they do this to young and lower level demons, preying on the weaker ones, those of less power, those less capable of defending themselves. Because they are of less power they are not always able to completely heal, leaving a constant handicap, meaning they are not a good slave and resulting in constant beating when in service in the future, a harsh cycle."

Kagome was beginning to feel a little sick at his words, which she presumed were all true. She brought Shippou who was riding on her shoulder into her arms and hugged him close protectively. It was difficult to think that some human would put her son in such a situation, that they could bring themselves to strike a child at all. What is more they would have revelled in his torture and his pained cries, for some humans were barbarians, far worse than youkai or any beast. Sesshoumaru was right, naturally, she had met such people.

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru said, stopping momentarily after an hour of walking, "the demon market we are headed towards is at the top of this upcoming cliff. The path becomes much more difficult and treacherous from this point on, and I would like us to move fast so we can reach them before nightfall. Do not take this as an insult, but you are a human and do not have the strength or agility of a Taiyoukai, I am going to carry you to the top to be more efficient. Shippou, go and ride with Kouga," he was not heartless enough to send him to Hiten.

There was no real reason for Kagome to object, and he did have a good point there. So she just nodded an affirmative and moved forward to place her hands on his shoulders. However, before she completed said action she found herself slung over his left shoulder, one arm clamped over her waist, body hanging limply down his pack as she stared at the ground rather unceremoniously. "If heights faze you I suggest you close your eyes as the cliff is quite high. It will take just under a minute to reach the top, hold your breath; I am going to move very fast."

She complied with the holding her breath, but not with the closing of her eyes and Sesshoumaru was off. Sesshoumaru leapt from rock to rock, fingers latching into the minuscule hols, launching himself further and further with each jump. His speed was even more incredible than his agility as he ran up the sometimes vertical wall. Hiten and Kouga followed just behind, each with their own decent helping of grace, swiftness and skill as the expertly moved, seeming to manipulate rather than master their surroundings, it was amazing to watch, even from her weird almost upside down angle, no way was she closing her eyes.

Kouga grumbled quietly in a childish mood, muttering that he should be the one to carry Kagome seeming as she was 'his' woman, it seemed he was yet to realize that he was the only one to considered her such. Although they could all hear him, even Kagome with her less than superior hearing, no one gave him any answer to his grumblings, considering them of no consequence, even Sesshoumaru who had staked his own silent claim over the girl did not even give him a pointed glare. Even the stubborn and dense wolf was beginning to realize that his constant claims over the girl which were never reinforced by here were by now starting to sound a little empty.

When they reached the top of the cliff they hid in some conveniently placed foliage, and the sight that met them was horrendous. There were about 35 demons there in total, each one locked in their own pitifully small cage. She noticed too that they were all pitifully skinny, their skin was pale and stretched tight over their bones, a clear sign of starvation and dehydration. No one deserved such brutality; it made her disappointed, disgusted even to be human, she did not want to be compared in any way to the monsters in front of her.

Kagome would not even subject a flower to this kind of restriction, even a cactus would wilt after a day. Everyone deserved, even needed to be free and open sometimes at least, she was beginning to feel all claustrophobic just here looking at the horrendous conditions. She thought about Sesshoumaru who had been under similar conditions and her face hardened, the marketer here should be shown no mercy. This monster would do the same thing again and again, he would treat Shippou similarly, something had to be done.

On closer inspection she could see that several of the demons had thin red lines over them. Kagome, being a miko had healed many different types of injury and she knew what caused these angry red welts too. The demons had been whipped, the knowledge hit her as if she had just been lashed herself, some of them had been severely beaten, and whips hurt a lot. Demons healed very quickly, and she knew that in a couple of days they would be healed, good as new, stronger even, with tougher skin. Still, they did not deserve to be treated that way, she had said it a lot so far and would day it again, she had morals and an honour code, she preached about justification and fairness, after all, what had they done, their only crime was existence.

Kagome was let go by Sesshoumaru as he moved from her side and closer to the edge of the foliage and Kagome felt Kouga grab her hand. In need of comfort, Kagome latched onto the offered limb and squeezed it tightly in thanks. The small action on her part pleased the wolf youkai greatly and she received a big grin in triumph but she was too distracted by the disgusting and shocking sight to really notice or much care. Something had to be done about this, and she and her friend Sesshoumaru would be the ones to do it.

"If we restrain the leader, the other humans will run with any luck," Kagome immediately started stating blue prints for battle plans. "Then we can free the demons, find your friends and get the hell out of here," Kagome told the dog demon in front of her. However, said Taiyoukai was not even looking at her and Kagome suspected he had not even heard a word she said. His full attention was on the chief slave driver and the leader alone. He was not much to look at, though he was a big brute, muscled and he looked like he had been the one eating all of the food that should have been given to the demon 'livestock' himself.

Humans were slowly filling the area, not one of them noticing the four demons and one miko in the area concealed in the foliage. The demons she was with had not masked their scents, not seeing the need to do so, and the soon to be liberated demons had certainly noticed them. Their previously lifeless eyes lit up a little and Kagome guessed they must have sensed the powerful aura nearby, one of them being their former Lord and alpha.

"That is the bastard that managed to capture me," Sesshoumaru growled darkly, eyes bleeding red in his fury around the edges of his normally crimson orbs. "It looks as though he still has my swords and armour too, that will save me the trouble of hunting them down." He was speaking quietly in an angry but detached tone, murmuring more to himself than his companions. Kagome saw his eyes roaming the caged demons, obviously looking for his friend, but not finding him, he snarled inwardly as his form was not there.

"Lot 22," hollered the chief of the market, signalling for a rather small demon to be brought forth in chains to the bedding platform. "Now he is not much to look at ladies and gentlemen, but I have seen firsthand the level to which his obedience and loyalty can stretch. He may not look it, but this demon is strong, fearless and has a high tolerance. He is a good guardian and will protect whatever he is assigned to with fierce vigour, of course you have to give him the right incentive," he chuckled. "Now who is going to start me off with 20 golden pieces?"

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru breathed, eyes locked onto the toad youkai. His lips peeled back over his bared teeth in a silent snarl of protectiveness and anger. This was truly the one he had come for, he had finally found him.


	10. Thrill of the kill

**I have always had a soft spot for Jaken and feel sorry for the way he is treated, so I thought I would make the relationship between them I little stronger at least in this chapter. There is a little more action in this chapter than usual; I have a bad habit of over describing and explaining myself. Anyway, please enjoy and REVIEW! **

**The thrill of the kill**

Kagome's eyes flicked from the form of her Taiyoukai friend practically shivering in rage and the small kappa on the platform looking utterly forlorn and dejected. It was clear her youkai friend wanted to charge in there and rescue his friend more than anything, but had to wait for the right moment. "Is that your friend?" Kagome questioned, already knowing the answer, but he nodded anyway, Kagome just wanted to placate him.

Then suddenly, "he is not worth 20 golden pieces."

"SESSHOUMARU!" She scolded, outraged at his harsh words. "Do not say such horrible things about your own friend; I am sure he is worth a lot more. Not that I am for the slave trade or anything!" She added quickly, realizing how her words much sound.

"I mean he is not worth 20 golden pieces because he will be of no use to anyone else. He swore his undying, unwavering loyalty to me centuries ago, and he will be in no way obedient to any other, especially not some human. Jaken is _my _friend, _my _retainer, and he follows _my orders, _and this I swear, _mine _he shall remain." Kagome was not sure whether his words sounded protective, if a little possessive, or sinister and malicious. She found herself for some reason wanting to know what exactly the relationship between the two youkai was.

"20 golden pieces, come on ladies and gentleman, this is a bargain, I promise you will not regret it. 20 I have, looking for 25 now, 30, 35, 40, do I have 45? No? O.K, 40 golden pieces it is then, going once, going twice, going-"

"Nothing at all!" Sesshoumaru suddenly called out, striding forward, Kagome, Shippou, Kouga and Hiten followed dutifully, all wearing a hardened masked of determination.

The whole place fell silent.

"Sesshoumaru sama!" Squeaked the toad demon in surprise and hope.

Said Taiyoukai turned away from the chief slave driver for the first time since reaching the top of the cliff and fixed the little kappa with an icy ambler glare. "I must say I am rather disappointed Jaken, this is not a sight I wanted to see. I gave myself up for you and the other to get to safety; I do remember assigning you to ensuring that safety. Yet here I am to find that every single one of you has been captured by the humans."

"I am sorry my Lord," he mumbled ashamed.

"You are all so broken as well," now he was addressing all of the youkai. "You are all proud youkai, or had you forgotten? Are you truly ready to give up on your lives, your fate, your future and you selves, are you truly ready to become slaves, or do you think it is time for the demons to fight back, and more importantly, are you ready to do so?"

All the demons started making a racket of agreement; even the ones who had been starved and beaten found a new reserve of strength. "I am glad you see you are free and well," my Lord, Jaken gushed, falling to his knees, "I promise I shall never fail you again my Lord, please find mercy and save this lowly Jaken!"

"Why do you think I am here?"

He ignored the demons and once more turned his attention back to the leader. "The years have been kind to you good sir, you are a man of 45, but you do not look a day over 30. You have been in the slave trade business for 25 years now and it seems that you have gotten cocky as you went through your business; things have changed from the time when I was in your grasp. You go through your business practically by yourself so you do not have to give away any of the profit, only keeping a lackey or two by your side."

He smirked at the man's widening eyes and he fixed the leader with a look of pure hatred. "Yes it is me, the same demon you sold to that witch for 3000 golden pieces 20 years ago, almost to this day in fact. But this time I am not starved and injured, no, no, I am much stronger, and you are unarmed and have no army behind you. I am here to free my people and I shall show those who have unjustly oppressed them no mercy. So please do scream in fear," he flashed him a very dangerous grin, showing off his sharp fangs no doubt. Kagome shivered at the sound of his voice, he truly meant it, he would show no mercy.

"No killing," Kagome whispered as a desperate plea, her left hand squeezing his forearm, her right hand still clutching onto Kouga's. It was against her nature to have any part in administering death, no matter how deserving of it they may be.

"This is a war Kagome," he said slowly in a voice that was patronizingly clear, "surely you know what one of those entail. In a war, people get wounded and they die, it is the same worldwide for youkai and for humans, killing is necessary in order to win the war. These people, especially the ringleader deserve to die; words alone will not suffice here."

"I understand how you are feeling, I know that you are angry and you want your revenge, but there must be another way. I know it is in your instincts as a Taiyoukai to kill and avenge those of your pack as an alpha, but you must understand my nature too. I am a miko and live to heal so must not take part in any sort of killing, even if I am simply standing by, I must not watch and have to try and persuade you not to, please, I do not want to see any bloodshed."

"Fine," he shrugged, not seeming at all bothered with this development. Kagome was surprised; she would have thought it would have taken a lot more encouragement before he decided to let it go. "If you do not want to see any bloodshed then I guess you leave me with no choice. Hiten, you are with me in this, do not leave my side for a moment or someone might strike your back, free everyone, leave no youkai behind. Kouga, you know what to do."

Kagome saw the two demons Hiten and Sesshoumaru charge forward, claws long and sharp, dripping with poison and Kagome realized just in time what was about to happen. She had worked her way into a little verbal trap, indeed the promise would be upheld, but this was not exactly what she had in mind. She just about managed to shout out the word "no" before arms encircled her and her world faded into darkness.

Kouga held the struggling woman to him with one arm wrapped around her middle. His powerful forearm trapped hers to her sides and forcibly held her body against his. With his other arm he held his hand over her eyes, to, as she had asked; prevent her from seeing any bloodshed. It was a cheeky trick really, but as much as he loved her she was too forgiving and compassionate for her own good, that was why she released him and Sesshoumaru after all. But then again, such sentimentalities were to be expected, she was a child, female and a miko.

This was not exactly what Kagome had in mind, and he struggled confirmed this, but it did the trick. Besides, they were technically and effectively doing as she requested, and this was a war, she needed to learn this already. Just as Sesshoumaru had said, in war certain measures have to be taken and sacrifices have to be made. If she did not want to see those sacrifices then tough luck, because she was neck deep in this war now, she had been as soon as she released Sesshoumaru, so she had to put up with their methods of obliging her.

He allowed himself a small smirk at her expense, even though he would usually loathe laughing at another's distress, especially so if it was someone he liked, or even loved. As much as he loved the girl, and he really did, there was something undeniably and unbeatably humorous about their twisting of her words. He still wanted to gain the little mikos affections, he was not that stupid, even with his constant claims that a female demon would have noticed and held him to, he knew Kagome did not feel for or depend on him in the way he would like her to.

This was anything but a step in the right direction but he would worry about how Kagome was never going to forgive them, namely him, later. It was not like she was going anywhere, he knew that his alpha Sesshoumaru would not let her just walk out on them, and he would restrain her with bonds if it came to that. That meant that she was going to be around for some time while he and the rest of the army fought this war for supremacy with the humans, and he could woo her in the evenings, that made perfect sense, and if he really tried, there was no way she could resist his charms. For now, he would just enjoy watching the ningen scum get what they deserve.

Kouga himself held no qualms about killing, as long as it was not unnecessary, he hated unnecessary death and hunted those who killed only for pleasure, he may be a demon, but he was heartless. He was a Taiyoukai, but more importantly he was a wolf, a hunter, he liked to kill, but did not kill just because he liked it. Wolves treat pack like family, and this pack that had been captured and maltreated were especially important to him, and deserved death. With these killings he allowed himself to feel excitement and revelled in it.

In fact, in this battle he felt such excitement that was so strong it was akin to arousal. He was captured, eyes glued to the scene in front of him, and the strange arousal like feeling spiked through him as he watched Sesshoumaru rip out the jugular of the chief demon slayer of the market. Red blood sprayed everywhere, reaching so far as to soak him and the girl he was holding. She knew what had hit her the second it came in to contact with her skin, and she stiffened immediately, making his job slightly easier.

He longed to be the one out there in battle, but his chance would come, for now he had to do his job and restrain their miko. He felt the kit on his shoulder shake as he too watched the carnage, he was a child, but first and foremost he was a powerful demon, even at his young age. What Kagome did not know was that he enjoyed it too, not as much as he maybe, but he did not need to be protected from such sights, no, the opposite. No, in fact the only odd one out in the soon to be no longer little ragtag group was Kagome.

Kagome was the polar opposite of a demon, and found what they would find pleasing, horrifying, and be disgusted by what they appreciated, and the effect ran both ways. This was to be fully expected though, she was a miko, one of holiness and purity, she was born and brought up to hate and be the opposite of a demon. On top of her heritage she was still a child, only just 15 summers of age, and this added youthful innocence to the mix. She truly was far too white pure, his resolve hardened, 'she must not see this.' He tightened his hold on her to make sure she was indeed fully protected against the vision of carnage before her.

With his hand over her eyes it was true she could not see what was going on, however, she could hear perfectly well. It would take an awful lot to drown out the screams of terror and pain as their short human lives were brutally and painfully taken from them by youkai tooth or youkai claw. She heard everything that happened: the sound of ripping material as the demons ambushed in attack, tearing right through clothes and sinking into the tender pale flesh beneath, and the pained and mournful cries that followed.

Kagome heard blade clash against metal, which could only mean one thing, Sesshoumaru was freeing his people. She heard him opening the ages, and using his newly returned swords to cut through the shackles the bound them, liberating them. That equalled to over 35 angry, bloodthirsty demons to help 'dispose' of the 'human scum' that had been keeping them. They were no longer beasts worthy of deaths; Kagome heard nothing but poor, terrified humans, far from home and safety, being hunted by angry demons without a hope of survival. She heard the delighted howls of joy as they were set loose, free to their own devices and to enact revenge and the thrill of the hunt and the kill was on, she was such an idiot.


	11. The Killing perfection

**Next chapter, enjoy and review**

**The Killing Perfection**

Suddenly Kagome was quite glad for Kouga's hand over her eyes; she did not want to see what was going on, she was happy protected from it all. Then after some time she heard steady footsteps coming her way, she recognized it as Sesshoumaru's pace. "You can uncover her eyes now Kouga, the bloodshed has stopped." His voice was as deadpan as always, but the hand over the eyes was never lifted as Kouga objected. "You may have stopped the killing Sesshoumaru sama, but there is still blood all over the place."

"Then turn her around to face the foliage and the cliff first, I just thought you might like to see how your friends are doing, and it is rather difficult for you to do that when you are holding onto the girl the way you are." Kagome felt him stiffen around her, that was the whole reason they were there of course, to rescue their comrades, he was torn between her and them now. "Ginta and Hakkaku seem to be doing fine; they are a little thin but have not been visibly beaten. Ayame however is a separate matter, although physically she seems in good shape, she is mentally traumatized by the whole ordeal. I doubt anyone but you will be able to calm her down, and if she is going to be a warrior of mine, I need her to be in her right state of mind."

Kouga finally seemed to realize that this was an indirect dismissal and Sesshoumaru was going to keep suggesting things until he went. Kagome was left, turned around so she was not facing the battle, shaking with her recent trauma. Although she was turned around, she had her eyes closed, tears coming out of the corners. She heard Sesshoumaru advance further; he was the last person she wanted to see but there was nowhere to run away from him to.

Oh she wanted to run away from him, from his betrayal of her trust, from everything, but she could not, there was nowhere to go. Behind her was the battle field, soaked in blood, littered with dead human bodies and newly released, furious demons who hated anything ningen. In front of her was a cliff and were she to walk too far forward she'd fall off and there would be no more Kagome; suicide was an option that she knew was in a very possible future for her, and she was hysterical, but not quite at that drastic stage yet.

Then suddenly an arm was round her shaking shoulders, rubbing them. Kagome stiffened in surprise, was Sesshoumaru, attempting to... comfort her? He was the one who had gotten her into this state in the first place, she was terrified of him. She tried to shrink away from him and extricate herself from his arms, but she was held fast. Kagome settled for stiffening, but it seemed as though that was not a good enough reaction for Sesshoumaru either. "It is all over now Kagome, you can stop shuddering," he mentioned as if he had not just slaughtered about 50 people. He lived up to his name; he really was the killing perfection.

"You can open your eyes now too," he carried on in the same voice, his arm holding and rubbing her tighter. Yes she needed comfort, but from anyone but him, he was just making her feel more uncomfortable and insecure. He truly had no idea he had frightened her so much, and he had hurt her too; he had hurt her so much because she gave her love and trust out too quickly, too easily, too freely, and he had betrayed her trust and their friendship to resort to his former Daiyoukai self. He was acting as if he did not know why she was reacting this way, as if she was blowing it out of proportion, but he knew she was a miko and detested violence and she had _pleaded _with him not to kill, was he really so oblivious? Finally Kagome managed to get herself together enough to snap her eyes open and make a reply.

With a sudden surge of force and viciousness she grabbed the arm that was around her and threw it off her. What she wanted more than anything right now was to be away from him, she wanted to scream and shout and break down and cry, but did not have the energy right now. All she wanted to do was to get away, just run and escape from it all, but fate had to decide upon that moment to give her nowhere to go. Feeling hopeless and helpless she stumbled back a few paces away from him, being careful not to turn around so as to see the carnage behind her. She held her hand up in front of her protectively as if it would be any good in shielding her from him, in a pose that was meant to ward him off. It obviously told him to STAY BACK although there was no consequence to follow it should he decide not to heed the unspoken warning.

Deciding the little girl who was still a pup in his eyes only being half grown could not do anything even remotely harmful to him, Sesshoumaru started to stalk forward towards her. She had no weapon and holding her hands in front of her like that were really not going to do any good should he decide to actually attack, not that he would do that to what was his. He had to make her understand that those deaths were necessary, it was a war now and more deaths were to come, but it was also true he had scared her, betrayed her trust and her friendship.

He was not used to feeling guilt and that twinge in his heart had him almost snarling in frustration, that girl changed people without trying, damn she did not even notice. He was the manipulating Daiyoukai here damn it, he was the one who was unaffected, he was the one who changed her. Yet here he was, feeling guilty of all emotions over hurting another being, and that is what he lived for, because he was a warrior, the killing perfection no less. And when he said this to himself, he did not even care it was happening.

He stalked towards her further but she held her hands up further, "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She almost screeched, more terrified of him than he had anticipated. The force in her voice made him stop dead in his tracks, and a flood of emotions washed over him again. He did not like her wanting him to stay away; he did not like her telling him to stay back. It was not just possessiveness, that being, she belonged to him and therefore he had the right to get as close to her as he wanted whenever he wanted, it was more than that.

He wanted her to be happy, but he wanted to be the one that brought her that happiness, and therefore he wanted her to know this too. He did not want her to be scared so he put an arm around her shoulders, a human sentiment, something he disgusted, but did anyway for her. It had not worked and she shied from him further, because he was the one that brought the fear in the first place. it displeased him that she did not want him near, but the one he was angry at was just him, her reaction should have been expected and had a precaution for.

She was a miko and detested violence and bloodshed and death – she should have been placed somewhere away and he could have come to collect her later. Oh yes, of course he could not do that because he did not trust not to get herself killed while he was not with her, though he did not know why this feeling came across him. it was probably because of what happened last time he left her alone with nothing but a runt to protect her, and he did not want a replay of that when he came only just in the nick of time to save the kit's life and tend to her injuries. Therefore, the only logical solution to him was for her to go wherever he went.

Perhaps his desire to keep her safe this time had done more harm than good. After all, what was the point of being in perfect physical health when you were crying and shaking wreck beneath the skin and forceful smile on your face? While he looked at her shy away from him, telling him to stay back with so much sincerity and force in her voice he questioned once more why he cared so much anyway. Again he knew it was not the possessiveness of simply not wanting what was his hurt, he really cared for her, a lot, and he was not even ashamed to admit it. If she was hurt he would be hurt also, because he liked her.

Surely the affection was getting out of hand though, once he took into account all of the things he was feeling for her as of late. For example, whenever he heard her toss and turn in the night he ran to her side to make her more comfortable. When she cried out when having a nightmare, he was there in an instant; even if he had been asleep himself, to do what he could for her. Why was all that, why did he feel not only obligated, but wanted to do this? It made no sense to him as an individual and to him as a Daiyoukai.

Just his new thoughts and feelings went against him as the Killing Perfection and the Lord of the West, and even him being a demon. Right now, why did he have the compulsion to encase her in his arms and apologise for scaring and upsetting her like this? Why was he hurt that their friendship might very well be terminated because of this? Why did he suddenly want to reach out and brush those tears from her cheeks to stop her crying? He did not regret his action, not one bit, but he did regret Kagome's response to them.

"Kagome, you must listen to me, the killing, it was necessary, this is a war after all." He knew he was never going to turn her to his way of thinking; she was his opposite after all being a miko. She really was far too pure and innocent for all of this, it was another thing he desired to shield her from, yet he knew that this task was impossible even for him. He had thrown her into the middle of a war, and could not let her out of his sight now because now she was in danger. There was really nothing he could do or say except give her time now.

"And how many more deaths are going to follow that Sesshoumaru? How many more are you going to kill in you quest for supremacy, because that is what you want isn't it? Demons and humans being of equal status and living in harmony is not enough for you is it? if a war is what you are going to initiate then fine, I know I cannot stop you, especially seeming as now you have an army behind you. What you do is up to you now, entirely, but just you, I want no part of it!"

Sesshoumaru just looked at her as she cried and screamed the words at him, the tears were affecting him less now that there were so many, they lost their meaning instead of amplified it. "I do not want any part in this war of yours because it is your war, not my war, it is only yours!" She stumbled back once more, still holding her hand out in front of her warding everyone back; she just wanted to be by herself for now.

"I am going to go home, to my father, and meet my brother and mother. I am going to forget all about you, I am going to put everything that happened since I met you behind me and move on. I am going to pretend like none of this ever happened and let my life go back to the way it was before. I did not need you then and I still do need you now, so you are in the past and the past will remain where it belongs, behind me. I want nothing to do with you and what you want, so I suggest once I am gone you do the same," she declared.

Well none of that was happening for starters, Sesshoumaru decided immediately. She would certainly not be leaving his side for any amount of time, let alone the rest of her life, and therefore neither of them would be forgetting the other. He attempted to take a step forward to tell her exactly what would and would not be happening but found himself blocked by a miko barrier, so it was going to be like that was it? Well that was fine, he could wait, she could not keep a miko barrier up for ages, although he did not feel like attacking it down. He still cared for her after all and that made him averse to turning his claws or newly returned swords on her.

He scanned her barrier; she was sloppy with it, a product of fear no doubt. There was an extremely weak point at her back; he could probably get to her in one strike, therefore no more than two seconds. He did not want to do this, but he saw no other choices for the time being, he had eternity to make things up to her, "I'm sorry you feel that way," he said truthfully.

"I'm sorry too," she shot back, not even letting him have the last word. "I'm sorry for ever trusting you, I am sorry I ever rook off your collar, you obviously needed it. I am sorry for offering you friendship, it is not as if it meant anything to you seeming as you just used your freedom and threw that link that I considered special away. I am sorry I was ever nice to you and treated you better than garbage, not something must slaves enjoy! In fact, I am sorry I ever met you!" Her voice had risen to a scream near the end of her rant.

She meant every word, he could tell by the scent, and that knowledge hurt him a little more. Still the reaction was to be expected and he just stood there and listened, allowing herself to blow off some of that steam. Seeing her so hurt and angry just made him even more guilty and he truly meant his next words, damn that girl, she changed people too easily and too rapidly. Luckily for him, he steeled himself and his resolve at the same pace, he was still not proud about his next movements, there was no honour in striking an unarmed child.

"No really Kagome, I am sorry about this." In two second he had come up behind her with his superior strength and struck her hard with his hand where her neck met her back. Kagome saw stars for a moment before falling into unconsciousness; Sesshoumaru caught her before she hit the ground as if that would do more harm. Laying the girl onto his mokomoko he turned to his newly acquired army, "Steal the tents, provisions and weapons, we'll camp here for the night." The army was gathered, the war was truly on.


	12. What am I?

**There we go, enjoy this one people! Thank you for me reviews, especially **Kawaiihikari1995! **Made me smile and give you an interactive hug!**

**What am I?**

Kagome woke up with a pounding headache, but on the bright side she was lying on something warm and comfortable. Never one to lay around after she had woke she sat up and brought a hand to hold her pulsing head, really, migraines were nothing compared to this. She was inside – but the last thing she remembered she was outside, in fact she had been outside, having a standoff with Sesshoumaru, now here she was waking up on a bed in what seemed to be a tent. They had not brought tents with them though.

The door opened and in came Sesshoumaru himself, but he looked a lot different to how she remembered. He was wearing a new set of white silken robes, and he was also wearing some heavy armour. At his waist were a couple of swords, and they looked as though they completed his image, what he had said about his armour and weapons being confiscated were true, they made him look more intimidating, more like a Demon Lord. He was frightening before, but now he was just plain terrifying, he instilled it in you before you even got close.

Noticing she was awake he managed to muster the ghost of a smile onto his face, "How are you feeling?" He inquired, not sounding all too interested, or all that bothered, but it was only polite seeming as he was the one that caused the pain. She replied with a mumbled 'terrible', and then a glassy look passed over her eyes as she recalled what had happened before... she tried to remember her latest memories, she came up with a blank, "What happened?"

"What do you remember?" He asked her, coming away from the entryway to sit beside her on the bed; she did not recoil from him.

"I had my miko barrier up; I was warning you not to get any closer. I was angry because you betrayed me, I am still angry about that you know. I told you that I do not want any part in this war, that I want to go home and forget about you and suggest you do the same. We stood there looking at each other for a couple more moments... then I woke up here. Where even is here, we are in a tent, but we did not bring anything like that with us, so where are we?"

"I think it must have been the trauma," he mused, speaking as much to himself as he was to her, "and over exertion, it has been some time since you last used your miko powers right?" He did not wait for confirmation from her before continuing, "therefore, doing so suddenly must have exhausted you quicker than you usually would have expired." Lies poured easily from his mouth, something he had never really felt the need to do before. "As you said we were just having a standoff as you put it, and then you just all of a sudden collapsed."

He stood up and walked towards the door once more, "now that you are awake I will get you some food, I'll be back in a few minutes." Ten minutes later she was digging into a piece of fruit sushi that had been in the provisions of the people they had killed, but Sesshoumaru did not feel the need to tell her that. After all, if he did, Sesshoumaru would bet his newly returned swords and armour that she would refuse to eat any of it.

"Sesshoumaru," she started once she had finished, "where is Shippou, I am not used to waking up without him when he was with me the night before, and where am I?" She looked around her and realization dawned on her and her face paled. "This is a tent that belonged to the people you killed isn't it?" She said more than asked, "we are still there aren't we, in the battle ground amongst all the blood and the dead bodies? And this food too, this is food that were provisions for the slave drivers, this is food of the dead," she ate it anyway. Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow at her but did not make reply, she was smarter than he gave her credit for,

"Your son has gone back to the neutral village; it is safer for him there than anywhere else though I am sure we shall see him again." Shippou was actually there to find any demons he could see and spreads the word that the Western Lord was back and raging war against the humans. It was a war against the whole world; he could use as many soldiers as he could lay his hands on. "The middle is hardly the place for a child, it does not matter if he is a demon or not, it does not even matter whether or not he is in danger, he is not here."

"I am going to go join him then, the middle of a war is hardly the place for a miko either. I do not have the power to stop you, but I want no part in this war you are initiating. I just hope that when we meet again, and I am sure that we will, you will still allow me to call you a friend." Sesshoumaru got up and he stood in the tent so he was between her and the door. There he stood and said one word that instilled fear in her, "no."

"N-no? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean no, you are not going anywhere. I vowed I will keep you safe and that means you will stay where I can keep an eye on you at all times."

"Now it is my turn to say no Sesshoumaru. I am going. I refuse to have any part in this war you want, so I am not stopping you so you have no right to try and stop me." She got to her feet to face him and they initiated another standoff. They were interrupted as Hiten entered the tent and therefore the conversation. "Hiten san, he's holding me here against my will!"

He looked down at his feet guiltily and her heart dropped, she knew that look all too well. "I truly am sorry Kagome, but it is best you stayed with Sesshoumaru sama, there is a war now, and there will be casualties, even innocents will be hurt, maybe even die. Sesshoumaru is the only one who can make sure you are not one of them."

"I am not being given a chance?"

"I'm sorry, besides, we cannot disobey a direct order from our alpha, you have to stay here, and if you leave, we will stop you."

"We?"

"Me, Kouga, Ginta, Hakkaku, Manten, and the rest of them."

"Was this your plan from the beginning?" She turned on Sesshoumaru with venom.

"I may have had it in mind," he mentioned without even batting an eyelid. "Now be a good girl and just stay here," he said patronizingly in a tone one might praise a good pet who just did a trick, he was the damn dog here!

"I'm not you damn pet here! I have a family to get back too, and a village that needs my help as a miko. I have a young adopted son and friends!"

"They are not your worries anymore."

"If I am not a miko, a friend, a daughter, a mother, a sister or even a person then what am I?"

"You are mine," he said, "that is all."

"That is all?" She was not even angry at this, just confused, how could that be all?

"I was yours, now you are mine, and that is all from now on."

"Yours? Just yours? I thought I was your friend, obviously I was mistaken."

"No? I have always considered you a friend since the moment you suggested it, but I have also considered you my responsibility and just... mine."

"What like a frickin' possession?" She felt her anger rising.

"No, well, I am not sure, perhaps that is the only way your limited human understanding and language can describe it. To me, you are just mine, that is all there is of consequence, from the moment you asked my name you have been so."

"A pet then?"

"No, I do not expect you to understand, you are only a human child after all, and a miko on top of that, an opposite to demons. You can think what you like if it is any burden off your shoulders, or if you just insist on doing so. As long as you know you are mine, even if you don't like the idea, you do not even have to accept it as far as I am concerned, as long as you know that I consider you such then all is well to me. My will is always what happens, for power and authority goes to the strong who forcibly reach out and take it after all."

"That sounds freaky, horrible even."

"Freaky, horrible, terrible, frightening, gory," he listed with a sadistic smile which only served to scare her further. "But that is war after all, an imbalance of power where the oppressed rise up to seize back what is theirs and rise of the supremacy due to them, and the leader of such an army gains all. In a war there is no second place, there is a winner who gains everything and a loser, who is left with nothing. The humans shall fall little miko and there is nothing you can do to stop it, but you are mine now.

I guess you could call yourself spoils from war as once it is all over you shall never leave my side or eyesight for a moment, because I will it so. Yet that is not quite right because you were always mine, from the moment I decided it so, and that was before I initiated this war. And because this is so you shall not fall into the slavery and damnation the other humans will, except for those in the neutral village of course. Demons are fair, those who did no wrong shall have no wrong done to them, and those who did wrong shall pay.

You shall not fall, for those who fall will lose everything, their home, their possessions, their money, their freedom, maybe even their sanity or their lives. Because you are my responsibility, and mine in all other respects as well, I shall not allow you to fall. From the moment you asked my name I knew that I could never allow you to come to harm."

"Why?"

"Because..." he smiled, a normal smile, "you would not believe me, but because I care."

She did not snort in disagreement, who knew what 'caring' meant in demon terms. "I meant why when I asked you your name, why then?"

He smiled again, "because you were different, you are very different, you always have been. Mikos hate and kill demons but you, no, you didn't put me to work, you offered friendship, an alliance, and you cared. By asking my name, you cared about who I was, not my species, not being a slave, but for who _I _was, Sesshoumaru, Western Lord."

"You say you cared, but now..." she could not even finish, "For that long it has all been a lie?"

"I have not lied to you once. Why do you think I saved you from the boys who were going to rape you and the man who was going to attack you and Shippou? I helped you because I am your alpha and because you are under my protection."

"I do not need anyone to take me under their responsibility, especially not my former slave! I am my own person and I go my own true way! You want me to be an obedient little pet for you, that is not going to happen, I am not that sort of girl!" Then suddenly he and Hiten felt a burning pain in the middle of their chests, Kagome had shot a ball of purifying energy at them. They doubled up in pain; unaware that she had the miko strength left to do such an attack and that she had the audacity to actually attack their person's in the first place.

"Damn that girl," Sesshoumaru muttered in pain as he writhed on the ground, watching her disappear out of the tent. Secretly he was impressed and even amused although physically hurt by her fiery spirit. It was not because he wanted to crush it, it just showed once more that she was different from the average teenage girl, not all timid and frightened, to was able to stand up for herself, she did so with no hesitation whatsoever. The reason he wanted to keep her close though truly was because he wanted her safe.

It took about five whole minutes for the pain to lessen enough for him to get up and run after her, although Hiten was still on the ground. She had masked her scent, but he did not need to be able to smell her, he could still see her. She had attempted to climb down the cliff, that much was obvious by the fact that she was standing right by it.

She had taken ropes with her, but they had been taken off of her and shredded. She was surrounded by a group of demons, his soldiers. They were throwing taunts at her, "go on then, if you want to get away from us all so badly just jump!"

"That's suicide, give me the rope!" She cried, backing away further.

For some reason, something inside one of the demons snapped. It was probably because she was a human and a miko on top of that. It was one of the ones who had been beaten and starved, one of the more powerful ones. He grabbed a fistful of her top and lifted her off of her feet, Sesshoumaru saw what was happening a second before it happened. He was already rushing forward when the demon threw her down the cliff face.

Without a second thought he rushed forward, pushed the demons out of the way and threw himself after her, hurtling himself over the edge of the cliff and after the falling, screaming girl before she was crushed. He used his youki to make himself fall after her faster and managed to get to her and wrap his arms around her before she fell to the ground. She just lay there, shaking in his arms, he wanted to reprimand her, but no words were needed, she was never going to lash out at him with her miko powers again.

"I cannot protect you if you are dead," he mentioned stoically. "Do not run from me, you belong to me. I will tell you as many times as it takes for you to get it into your heads, you are never going to leave my side. You are MINE!"

Kagome spent the rest of the day with her hands tied to together with the rope that had not been shredded and sitting on the bed in the tent with Sesshoumaru staring at her the whole time. He had an expressionless face on while he did so, but it was obvious he was highly amused by the whole situation, especially with her bonds, it was just a Daiyoukai's sadistic amusement.

"Once you resign yourself to the fact that you are mine and never going to get away, things will become much easier," he promised in a quiet voice that would have been considered sweet if the words were not as they were.

"It is getting late; I'll see you in the morning. Good night." That was it, he was gone and her future had been laid out before her.


	13. mistress from hell

**Soooo, yeah, just in case you have not figured it out yet – it's Kagura, and she is a human. Please enjoy, this chapter and the next were really fun to write, yes, I have two done and ready! I must be a sadist because it was nice to write and I hope it is enjoyable to read. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW, THEY MAKE ME SQUEAL – I MEAN THEY MAKE MY DAY. **

**The mistress from hell.**

Kagome woke to someone kicking her side. She rolled over on the futon she had been placed on the night before and opened her eyes. The kappa that Sesshoumaru had saved the night before, Jaken she remembered his name was happened to be standing there glaring at her. For someone who had been a slave not twenty four hours ago, he sure had a superior look in his eye. But then again if you are the retainer to the Lord of the West, for he already considered his title as good as regained, and part of his pack then you are going to consider yourself somewhat regal too. The look just did not seem to suit the toad for some reason.

Kagome rubbed the offended ribs and glowered back at him with venom, "good morning to you too," she sulked to him sarcastically. Kagome had never been a morning person and being kicked awake by a two foot tall toad was not going to set her in a good mood. She was considering different ways to kill him (and Sesshoumaru of course) while running over ideas in her head of how to escape while she glared daggers at him. Suddenly her murderous thoughts were interrupted by said glare-stabbed toad making a reply.

"I would not speak in such a tone to the mighty Western Lord's loyal retainer human!" He spat with an annoying squawking voice, it was clear they were destined to be enemies. She clocked that she did not call Sesshoumaru by his name but referred to him by his title, 'mighty' Western Lord as well. He was extremely 'loyal' as he put it, 'hopeless' however was the first word that came to her mind. Just his voice and his ugly appearance was enough to make her want to boil him alive, his attitude was intolerable, he better be pretty useful, otherwise she could not imagine why Sesshoumaru would keep him around, or alive.

"And I would not speak to your Lord's friend in such a way unless you want to end up like toad stew!" That was an idle threat, there was no way she would kill him or prepare him for eating, and he was far too disgusting. She doubted she was his friend anymore anyway, but otherwise the threat would have been, 'do not maltreat you Lord's things'. That just did not have the same ring to it at all and she doubted the kappa would have been impacted at all. "So watch your mouth kappa unless you want to end up like the world's most annoying broth. Oh and another thing, if you value your life at all, do not ever wake me up in the mornings again if this is the way you are going to do it. Now go away and give me some privacy so I can get dressed!"

"Like I would find your human body anything more than repulsive!" Sesshoumaru was sitting by a small fire eating his meal of rare meat when he saw the green blur fly out of the tent. He had never known that the toad had that particular ability, but then again, he had given him a temporary ability to fly before as well. Jaken made a very nice arch through the air before landing not a centimetre from the from the fire, resulting in him getting burnt and having another short flight as he jumped away before landing several feet away, patting out the small flames on his clothing.

Five minutes later a very red faced, furious Kagome emerged from the tent; he had cut her binds once she went to sleep the night before. She was looking very cross, and rightly so, and ready to fry the next Kappa she saw. He was incapable of feeling any real form of worry, but he felt something very close to sorry for the imp, he was the only toad there after all. It seemed though Kagome was redirecting her anger to dogs, and he was the only dog around. Unlike Jaken however, he was more than capable of taking the child on.

Once she reached him Sesshoumaru grabbed her waist and pulled her into his lap. She let out a surprised cry as she landed on his thighs. One arm came instantly around her to secure her in place while the other hand held the meat that was barely cooked. "Let me go right now Sesshoumaru or I'll fry you with my miko powers!" The Daiyoukai allowed himself a small smirk at that, it was the only threat she had and it was not even good. He had heard you should fight fire with fire but in this case it would most likely anger her more and get better results if he fought her fire with his calm and cool serenity, she would be left with no comebacks and therefore silent.

"You will do no such thing," he corrected, saying it so surely and confidently she almost believed him immediately. "If you so much as attempt such a thing then I shall have to bind you again, Hiten is still recovering from your last outburst."

"He deserved it, as did you!"

"That as it may be, you will be doing nothing of the sort again."

"You cannot stop me!"

"Yes, I can, and I will."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"... You don't want me to answer that question." In actuality, he just had no idea how to answer her, while there were ways of ensuring it he did not want to initiate any of them, because the whole objective was to keep her safe and not harm her. It seemed to do the trick though and she sank into silence, refusing to look him in the eye.

"Then I shall kill you," she said eventually, but she did not sound as though she believed it herself and he certainly did not believe it for a moment.

"I seriously doubt that, besides if you tried I would be inclined to retaliate as youkai and humans are prone to do, and I would not be able to guarantee your safety. On the off chance you managed, there would be no one to protect you from the youkai. There are thirty five maltreated demons here that are thirsty for ningen blood, the only reason they are not trying to slaughter you is the fact that they recognize you are under my protection. With me dead there is nothing stopping them from tearing you apart, now, still want to kill me?"

She hung he head in defeat.

"Very good, now, how about something to eat?" He offered some fruit like he had given her yesterday. He'd offer her some meat, but he would have to wait around forever for it to burn to a crisp seeming as ningens have that habit of doing that to meat before they eat it.

She shook her head, "I'm not hungry for the food of the dead."

"You did not have the same reaction before."

"I was starving before, it was one chance, I shall find my own nourishment."

"Did I not say yesterday that I am responsible for you now?" He growled quietly, a hint of irritation entering his voice, the girl had to learn quickly or things were going to be very unpleasant for her. "I shall not allow you to starve yourself," he said, "so stop this childishness and just eat; I shall not have you falling ill because of your wounded pride."

She crossed her arms and turned away from him, well the best she could manage from being trapped on his lap in the cage of his arms anyway.

"If I have to chew the food myself and force it down your throat to nourish you I will do so," he mentioned casually, continuing to eat his own meat. "I am not above doing what I must to ensure you survive," he would do it as well, he seldom told lies, he felt her stiffen against him. "But I'm sure it won't come to that," he assured her.

He smiled as she angrily turned towards him once more and snatched the peach, biting into it.

"That's what I thought," he smiled smugly.

"We are going to visit a friend of mine today," but he said it with a malice that made Kagome start to worry for said friend. Demons were wandering around camp, and none of them seemed to think that the miko sitting on his lap was a weird sight at all, but that may be because he was their Lord and Alpha, you tend not to question the things he says and does.

"Why do I suddenly feel worry for this 'friend'? Then again if you treat all of your friends in the same way you treated me it should not really come as much of a surprise."

He made no reply.

"Because of your humanity slowing you down so much you shall be travelling with me." She knew exactly what that meant, he would be carrying her.

"I'll just hinder you, go on without me."

"That is not going to work. And you shall hinder me, but my superior skill makes up for it."

"You are too arrogant and egotistical for your own good, you know that Sesshoumaru? You can be a real bastard too. It is all going to come back to haunt you one day, you can count on it, this sort of thing always does."

Sesshoumaru did not make reply, and Kagome never really expected him to. What she had not expected was to be thrown over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and for him to start marching off. The other demons, seeing this, dismantled the tents, packed supplies and took off after him, following behind him obediently; it would seem breakfast was over and they were now moving out. She had said to him the previous day that she did not belong to him and was not obedient, but she could walk by herself – though the temptation to try and escape, even though it was practically impossible to be successful, may prove too much.

"Umm, is this really necessary Sesshoumaru?" She growled from her position on his shoulder, knowing that if she even got an answer it would not be helpful.

"Yes," came his informative reply, it was worth a shot.

"Please let me walk by myself, your shoulder is uncomfortable." It was not actually that bad, what with the soft mokomoko to lean against and all, but she would much prefer to walk by herself. She may be a human and a miko on top of that, so therefore she was looked down upon by practically every demon present. Hiten didn't she knew, and Kouga would probably be protesting that he should be the one to carry her instead, but he was nowhere to be seen. He was probably among the throng of demons behind her somewhere.

"Would you prefer the other side?" His question was innocent, but one glance at the armoured shoulder covered in spikes had her submitting once more. She decided to just be quiet until they reached their destination. By the look in his eyes when he talked about his 'friend', Kagome guessed that he or she would be willing to help her.

Sesshoumaru took her sudden silence and compliance as a bad omen but decided to enjoy the rare, small moment of peace and quiet as long as it lasted seeming as it presented itself quiet willingly and naturally. Kagome had never really, truly annoyed him with her constant chatter, she was not a constant chatterer, though she did prefer talking to silence. Yet when she was angry she could be particularly persistent, and he got detailed theses about subjects that had never existed before in between shouting, raving and insult, oh, and she was loud. He had also learnt that a good way of shutting her up was scaring her.

After 2000 hours of uncomfortable, err, ness, watching the world pass her by from being slung on someone's shoulder, Kagome was dropped, gently mind you to the floor where she collapsed to the ground. Sesshoumaru looked at her with one arched eyebrow, "I'm sure being carried for an hour and a half has not taken away your ability to use your legs," he stated. This was true, but her stomach hurt and she was busy clutching it. In fact her whole body was sore and stiff from the ordeal; she did not want to move.

"I suppose I could carry you again?"

Kagome broke the world record for recovery and got to her feet, wincing, but managing all the same. Sesshoumaru seemed slightly put out, obviously he wanted to carry her again and torture her once more for his own sadistic amusement. She would act as if she was perfectly fine if it would grate on his nerves; thank the world for small mercies. She forced a cheerful smile on her face, "no, that will not be necessary, I am just fine." It was then she noticed that while she was sure they had set off with an army of demons, standing in this small clearing now she could only see the two of them. "Hey Sesshoumaru, where is everybody, did they all go home?"

"They are all in position," he answered.

"What do you mean by that?"

He pointed to the roof of the building they were standing next to. It was a house but it was about half a mile away from the rest of the village, perfect for what Sesshoumaru was planning, not so good news for the 'friend' inside. She looked up to see it was where three demons from the army that had been following them resided. They were perfectly still, like statues, she could never have managed it, they kneeling on one knee, eyes and ears alert, muscles tensed and ready, like poised to jump. They seemed to be... waiting for something, whether for further orders or just to, Kagome had no idea, but they were waiting for something.

He pointed to the bushes that surrounded the house on all four sides. If she peered closely she saw about a dozen pair of eyes glow from within the leaves, it was an eerie and frightening sight. Without Sesshoumaru gesturing to them she looked up into the three trees that resided there. There were about four demons in each one; they were large trees after all. Demons in trees were like leopards, they became pretty much invisible.

She suddenly remembered the day she learnt how apt big cats were at hiding within the leaves and branches of a tree. She had said that you would spot them easily with their colours and patterns, but when she was shown books with pictures of big cats in trees, she was forced to reconsider her previous hypothesis. She learnt that camouflage colours was not as important as many people claimed, what was important was to keep _still. _It took many minutes of solid staring before she saw the stationary forms of the hiding youkai. She noticed that they were all alert and tensed like the ones on the roof and in the bushes.

Well that accounted for 27 demons where were the other 8? Not including the one standing right in front of her of course. She was about to ask when out of the corner of her eye she saw a flick of a tail and she looked. The 'missing' demons were surrounding the house, but not in the way the other demons were, they were crouched down by the base, hidden in the long grass, blending into the orange bricks the house was made of. She had not noticed, but somehow it was late afternoon and already the day's light was beginning to fade.

"Dusk is the perfect time to do this," Sesshoumaru mentioned casually, his voice was calm but the malicious glint in his eye could not be described as anything other than evil. Kagome grew suddenly very frightened, it was never good when an extremely powerful, very deadly, very free (because of her she had not forgotten, or forgiven herself) Daiyoukai smiled. When Sesshoumaru smiled it meant death and misery and blood, and Sesshoumaru was grinning. She wanted to know what he was planning, and how to stop him killing who was inside that house.

"Darkness has always been my favourite time to kill, it increases the fear," he drawled as if discussing how to make his favourite meal. He even licked his lips as he spoke, Kagome wondered whether this was just because he loved the killing so much or whether he wanted to eat or drink that blood of who he slaughtered. "That scent of fear is intoxicating Kagome, it is a shame indeed you are not a demon and cannot appreciate it. The smell of terror on your prey as you close in on them is nothing short of arousing."

"Well I'm not a demon," Kagome replied coldly, fixing him with a cold stare, "I am a miko. And if you kill again today I am never going to forgive you, it is not the answer, there is another way. You say this is war and death in necessary, but by killing humans you are just proving to them that you deserve to be trodden underfoot." He looked at her while she spoke, but was not really listening to her; his attention was solely on the house in front of him.

"Your thoughts on the matter are inconsequential," he shrugged with an air of 'this matter is closed', which if Kagome had anything to say about it, it most certainly was not, but she did not have a say. He handed her, quite literally handed her to a demon she did not recognize and there they stood, it seemed neither of them would be taking part in the 'excitement' to follow. "You will stand here and watch, little miko, you will soon learn that I live up to my namesake, and why Lord Sesshoumaru is feared, respected and awed throughout the demonic populations."

"You cannot make me watch something so horrific."

"I protected you last time, you were not ready, but this is just one person, you can handle it. And yes, I can make you if I so desired, but I do not need to do anything physical to make you watch, you will do so of your own accord. I promise you that you will not be able to resist, as disgusted and horrified as it may make you, there is something strangely beautiful and intoxicating about the Killing Perfection assassinating foe. You will be captivated, you won't be able to look away," nobody is quite that pure to resist this death.

"Haruko," due to superior demonic hearing his voice did not need to rise to more that the intimidating and frightening whisper he was using. "Do it now," he nodded at the small wind demon crouched by the house and he closed his eyes, when he opened them again they were light blue, with no pupils to be seen. When doing that Kagome safely came to the conclusion he was just as scary as Sesshoumaru, or at least, he had the potential to be when he wanted to, behind the scariness, it was pretty awesome, not all demons had such a cool power.

A stormy wind ripped through the house, blowing out every single light inside, Kagome saw the windows blacken, as the light illuminating the room behind it was snuffed out. Haruko's face snapped up and his blank eyes flashed, Kagome felt his youki increase, he was using more power. The wind blew stronger, and she ended up sinking further into the embrace of the demon holding her to escape the chill and avoid being blown away. The windows were blown out completely, shards of glass showering them all; it was surprising no one got hurt.

"Increase to full power Haruko," Sesshoumaru demanded quietly, his voice was somehow heard over the racket Haruko's power was making, "she has yet to emerge." The wind demon complied, his wind causing the roof to start to tear, and eventually a human woman exited the house, eyes wide with fear and confusion as she watched her house tear apart in front of her eyes from the garden. Once she closed the door, Sesshoumaru, still unseen, signalled for Haruko to stop, and the storm ended as abruptly as it had begun.

Sesshoumaru used his super speed and within a moment he was a breath away from the woman. Kagome got a good look at her; she was beautiful, green earrings, red eyes, which were strange for a human, slim waist, long legs, and an intricately designed kimono. She looked to be about forty years of age, but the years had served her well, the lines were not deep, and she was obviously still capable, and still very good looking. In Sesshoumaru's eyes however was no lust, not for her, there was nothing but the most deep set hatred, red lines started to invade the amber swirls from the corners, he only did that when he was handing himself over to his beast. She had always detested red, the colour of life blood, blood Daiyoukai liked to spill, Kagome looked into the crimson pools of the woman, and she saw nothing but terror.

Recognition was clear in the eyes of that woman.

"Indeed it has been a long time, Kagura."


	14. Revenge is a dish

**I could not stand to make you wait after I got 6 reviews for my new chapter already, so here is the next instalment. It is practically the second part of the last chapter, I just like keeping chapters short... not sure why, but I like reading things with relatively short chapters – though I don't like drabble stories very much.**

**Enjoy and REVIEW! **

**Revenge is a dish best served**

After a while she managed to get her voice under control enough to say, "Sesshou?" Something about the nickname did not sound right, even to Kagome who had decided Sesshoumaru was a bit of a mouthful anyway. Somehow, when you are just about to be killed by a bloodthirsty demon who was once your slave who you tortured for twenty years, giving him a nickname like that was not the best greeting; at least she did know what he was called.

Sesshoumaru grinned one of those malicious grins that promised pain, showing off his sharp fangs that seemed to glow in the twilight semi darkness. "I would take the trouble to correct you, for I am mere months away from being Lord of the West once more, and you ningen do not deserve to call me anything more familiar than my title, Inu no Taisho. However, I shall relax the rule with you seeming as you shall not be living much longer."

The beautiful woman seemed to have already surmised as much and looked at him, "I never thought I would ever see you again."

"I never thought I would ever have to see you again either and did not care to. However, as you will observe, my new mistress relieved me from my position as slave," Kagome watched the woman raise her head to see his neck was missing a collar. "I thought then that I may as well pay you a visit, after all, we have been such dear friends for twenty years now. I began to think of us as something akin to a wedded couple we were so close."

As he talked he started to stalk towards her, slowly, almost leisurely, not a care in the world. He wanted her fear to increase, it made him more satisfied, that was what he was here to do after all. Just killing her would not do, he wanted her to die in fear, it seemed he hungered for it, and as it was delivered to him, for she was indeed terrified, he got drunk of it. For every slow, menacing pace Sesshoumaru took towards her, Kagura answered with a step backwards.

Eventually it became too much for her and she turned around to bolt. She found however that her path was blocked by over a dozen demons in the hedgerows. She looked around herself and youkai jumped out of the trees, doing flips before landing lightly on their feet. They did not threaten her, they just stood there, blocking off all escape routes, looking at her, letting her know that there was no way out of this predicament.

She turned back around to see if there was a way to get around Sesshoumaru and dart into the house, either to grab a weapon or run away. With a flick of Sesshoumaru's wrist however, a command, the demons on the roof also jumped down, so Kagura was in the middle o a youkai ring. Kagome could do nothing but watch the elaborate display and her eyes turned to regard the lady's red ones. All glimmers of hope were gone, in its place was nothing but fear and despair, she knew there was no hope for her, she was going to die.

"Oh no, I am not letting you leave me this early," Sesshoumaru chuckled; he stopped advancing now he was less than I pace away from her. "The fun is only just beginning after all," he lifted up one hand and gently, almost caringly stroked the side of her face, and she shivered under his touch. Then quicker than the eye could see he drew back his arm and struck her across the face with the back of his hand. It was not forceful enough to knock her out, which would ruin his 'fun', but hard enough to bruise her and send her toppling to the ground.

"With my demonic healing, you could and did break the bones in my face several times a week," he reminded her as she got to her feet, clutching her face. He slapped her again, this time Kagome heard the crunch of bones. Kagura stumbled back with a cry of pain, but her shoulders were caught by a demon behind her who pushed her back towards Sesshoumaru. "With your pathetic human bodies, so fragile, you don't get so brutally treated."

"I really did put a lot of thought behind this visit," he carried on as if he had not just attacked her. "I thought about making you my slave during the revolution, but then I thought that it would just be a bother having you around, even if it is just as a chew toy. Besides, if I were to do that, I would be just like a human, and I am not to be grouped together with you ningen, because I am a demon. I am not like a human, I am much worse. So I decided to kill you, I really could not stand the idea of letting you live after all you've done to me anyway."

Kagura started to cry desperate tears and Sesshoumaru lifted a finger and wiped them away for her. "Tears are a weakness Kagura; you said that to me the first time you brought tears to my eyes. I never made the same mistake again, and neither will you. Four tears, that equates to four lashes Kagura, you should know the routine by now." He slashed at her back with his clawed hand leaving four long, but shallow gashes down her back.

She bit her lower lip to stop more tears coming to her eyes but she let out a grunt of pain. "I wanted to do to you everything you did to me but I just do not have twenty years spare time, and neither do you as a matter of fact. Humans, they are broken so easily, so quickly, the opposite of demons, hard to break, quick to heal, so much more fun than a human slave, wouldn't you agree? I must be right, I always am, after all, I kept you occupied for twenty years, I have barely had you for twenty minutes, and you are already boring me."

He kicked her in the side and a couple of ribs broke from the impact. "I shall kill you now," he outlined, but it will be slow and torturous and agonizing to make up for lost time. "Revenge is a dish," he said as she struggled to her feet once more and he slashed at her stomach to send her tumbling back to the ground. "But I do not know whether it is best served hot," he slashed at her once more with his poison claws and the flesh bubbled and burnt as consequence. Kagura shrieked in pain, but still, Kagome could not tear her eyes away from the scene. "Or whether it is served cold," and he signalled to the storm demon who held her in place with a mini icy tornado while he lashed her with his youki formed whip.

The woman's high pitched cries of agony were too much for Kagome to bear and she tried to get to her to help her, but was held in place, hands pinned to her sides. This was when Kagome looked away; Sesshoumaru rained his attack down on the woman, cutting her, bruising her, hurting her, breaking her. Long after he had finished and he just stood there covered in the woman's blood, she stayed with her face tucked into the shirt of the demon holding her.

Then suddenly a voice came from above her, "you looked away," she knew the owner of that deep baritone instantly, while her face was still buried into some demon's chest, by the sound of it he was not a pace away, but she could not bring herself to look up. "I could not watch it, I could not watch you kill that woman and torture her, it was too much. It goes against everything I am, and it would have showed you as everything I have been brought up to believe demons to be, I did not want to see that so close and real either."

"You really are too pure for your own good, Kagome." He smirked and he grabbed her shoulder, spinning her out of the arms of the demon holding her and into his own embrace. "That purity and heart will be the end of you one day."

"It already is the end of humanity," she replied, "it set you free after all."

"It is a good thing you did so really," he replied, "for I would have found a way to escape the subduing powers of the collar with or without your help. If you had not been kind and good to me you would not now be following me around, being kept safe and protected. Think about it Kagome, would you rather treat me with decency and be alive," his smirk grew. "Or treat me like a slave and suffer the same fate," he forced her to look at the still form of the bloodied and beaten Kagura lying on the ground, "as her?"

"I don't know."

"She deserved it you know."

"I...I don't think I care."

"Hn... you should you know, you'll learn."

"Learn what?"

"Your life has not hit rock bottom as you seem to think. You are mine, and while that is so you will be properly provided for, not a bad situation really. While you are still breathing and have a pulse you still have a life, you can still make an impact, however menial it may be. But once you lose that life, then you have hit rock bottom."

For the next three days Kagome spent her time watching the world pass by her from over the shoulder of a specific Daiyoukai. She said nothing in that time, not knowing what to say, knowing he would have a comeback that would send her into silence once more. He killed every human that he came across and his army grew with each slaughter. Kagome had her hands tied together to restrict her using her miko powers, it also helped to make sure that she did not fall to her death when hooked on Sesshoumaru's back when climbing up steep cliffs or hills.

After three days she finally put her foot down, things and she could not go on like this. They had made camp again, Sesshoumaru's tent, where she was kept as well, positioned in the centre of the throng. She initiated the argument of how it did not have to be this way, neither of them had washed since leaving Kagura and every time she saw the bloodstains on him, or her it was a reminder of how Sesshoumaru and the other demons spent their time, and how she, although a miko, was helpless to just watch.

Sesshoumaru needless to say did not take the argument very well, even though he won, of course, he always did. She was reminded of what he said but a few days ago regarding her situation with him, and the demons, and in this war. She was nothing and no one anymore, not according to him, she was not who Kagome was. Her previous life no longer existed, she was torn between the life that she wanted and the life that she had. The life she used to lead and the one fate landed her with. Things never turned out well in situations like this, but according to Sesshoumaru all that was of consequence was the act that she was his.

The scary thing was that she was beginning to believe it too, she did not want to, but she relied on him now, to feed her, to clothe her, to protect her, it was against her wishes yes, but although she wanted to breakout, he was not letting her do so. Therefore, she had to do what he said and go along with his wishes because there was no alternative, she was helpless to him, and while she was, she may as well belong to him.

But the war was not over yet, and therefore there was still a chance for her, it was her only hope to believe in. And she nursed the rope burns on her wrists where he tied them together so it was easier to carry her while she remained silent still repeating that mantra 'it's not over yet, it's not over yet.' There was still hope, there was still time, she was still a miko and despite what Sesshoumaru said, she still had family and friends, 'it's not over yet, it's not over yet.'

While that mantra kept her going she would have her revenge. It would be served in fire and water and regret, and confused, mixed up feelings for him. When the right time comes she will serve him what he is due, 'it is not over yet, it is not over yet.' And when the right time comes, whenever that may be, her will be done, it will, because she was a miko, one with holy powers from the Kamis, so they must be listening to her. All she could do was assume she had a task to do and that they would reward her, when the right time came.

Until the right time, whenever that time was, she knew what she knew. She had people she loved who would help. She may be Sesshoumaru's, but she was still a mother, a daughter, a sister, a miko and a friend as well, she would not be broken into believing or even admitting publicly or privately she was anything less. Until the right time when she could make Sesshoumaru see that too, she had that belief, those people and her mantra.

It was late at night, perhaps two weeks later when that time came. She had been obedient and silent and Sesshoumaru's possessiveness had weakened. He let her be by herself when she bathed and she always came back to camp instead of runoff. She went for small walks around the campsite, and she never tried to go because she knew it would be a futile attempt. He hold loosened further although he still kept her wrists tied.

Then one night he did not come back to the shelter, he was up discussing something, for they still shared the tent. She went to work cutting her binds on her wrists using a sharp rock nearby jutting out of the ground. It was so easy, too easy, and without a sound she managed to get out of the shelter and slip away into the night.


	15. Where the mantra led her

**Another couple of chapter completed. Again this is the first chapter of two that are basically one long chapter, but I like to keep them relatively short because I don't like superly long chapters. Hope you enjoy it and review, though I have kind of repeated myself a bit... O.K a lot, but I can't decide whether that is bad or adds to the effect.**

**Where the mantra led her**

She ran, and she ran and ran and ran for over an hour without a stop. Her muscles were screaming and blood pounded in her head so loud she could not hear herself think, and still she ran. She did not know what to do, but her mantra was there and perhaps that was all she ever needed anyway. She headed south, watching as the night darkened and she continued to run, south, south, south, if she kept going she would find them she was sure of it, she had to.

She did not know she was capable of running for so long, and so fast too, even if she was enhancing her speed with her miko powers. She had never been that fit before, she spent all her time studying or meditating anyway so it did not come as that much of a surprise really. But then again, it was her life on the line, and her miko hood, and when the stakes are so high boundaries no longer exist, and you would be surprised at what you are truly capable of.

She kept going despite the protests of her body she just continues to run, south, she had to get away, it was all that mattered. She could not stand to be there anymore, with him, Sesshoumaru, or to be swept up in this war a moment longer. This was not her place and she wanted out, needed it, so away she ran, away from him, from the death and the horror and the blood that was effectively on her hands. And as she ran it got later still and she squinted to see the trees before she slammed into them, hurting and hindering herself. And then midnight came, the turn of day, and still she just kept on running right through it.

Eventually it got too dark to continue for she could not see where she was going but she was too scared to be caught again, it is always darkest just before the dawn. She stopped against a tree and she only meant to stop for a minute or so to catch her breath but without noticing her exhaustion catching hold and overcoming her she fell asleep. She did not mean or want to, but she could not help it because it was so late and she had run so far, so fast after so long of just being carried over someone's shoulder it was a shock to her system.

When she next opened her eyes it was morning, about three hours later she reckoned, 6am, maybe 7am, certainly no later. It was early, but light enough to see where she was going and she was refreshed now, if a little hungry, and absolutely parched. She got to her feet and carried on going, south, south, south. After an hour or so she came across water and drank greedily, regaining her strength and able to go faster and further still. She swam through the stream to wash away her scent, and sweat, and then headed east to lead him astray, for after a mile or so she masked her scent and then head south once more.

About two hours later, after her mantra had turned into prayers to keep her going she finally found who she had been searching for. There were three people there, people she loved more than all else, and who loved her. One form was only slightly larger than her, much older though, seven years in fact, though they were like twins. She was thin, with long dark brown hair and pink eyelids with long lashes surrounding large hazel orbs. She was dressed in pink and black clothes and carried a weapon which was larger than her.

The second form was a male, a lot larger than her, and also a lot older, eight years older in fact, though he was often like an older brother – a lecherous older brother, but a brother all the same. He was dressed in purple as he always was, it was his uniform as a monk, but he was about as unholy as a monk could get despite being powerful. He had black hair and handsome face, it was a shame he was a womanizer really, and it took time, but eventually he realized his heart only belonged to one woman, and he married her, now they were an unstoppable team.

He had large dark brown eyes that were usually sparkling in almost childlike mischievousness but Kagome had seen them filled with concern and a seriousness that was almost frightening. Kagome had always loved his eyes and the many different sides she saw of him through them. He carried a staff with golden rings on the end of it, it was his only weapon, he could use his holy powers to fight better than she, who relied on a bow and arrows more than most mikos needed to. He was the kindest man she knew.

The third form was a slave, not your traditional slave, but she had been purchased at such a market anyway. The fire cat though was not maltreated, she and the demon slayer had become great friends straight away, which is why Sango bought her, and Miroku, well he got along well with everything female or animalistic. Sango and Miroku did not like the slave trade either, but unlike Kagome did not mind it happening, they just stayed out its way, they were too small to make a difference, but now, she needed them.

"Sango!" She screamed as loud as she could as she neared them, causing the ever present slayer to turn around. Miroku did the same and caught her as she launched herself at him in her blind need for consolation. She sobbed in their arms, and the three figures just stared at her in question, not knowing why she was not at home or why she had sprung such a surprise visit on them. Most of all, why was she so cut up and unkempt? Kagome did not care; she was safer with her friends and let them lead her away to shelter, to warmth and to food.

Four hours later she was ready to speak, and once she started she could not stop. "Sango, Miroku, I need to talk to you, I am so glad to see you, I need your help." It all came out in the wrong order out of fear and the need to say everything and her need for help. Despite the hours that had passed her eyes were wild and she knew she must be a sight, by the startled looks on their faces she guessed that she was right in that assumption. "I have done something terrible guys, I have made an awful mistake and I need your help." She cast nervous glances around her while she was talking. She was scared that her _slave _would turn up at any moment.

She was not badly hurt bar a little scraped up from running away but there were two substantial injuries. Sango was the first one to notice the sores on her wrists and gave a sharp intake of breath as she saw the state she was in. They had been covered by her sleeves up until that point, but she used her hands as she talked so the fabric inevitably fell back to reveal the injury she had hidden. Out of sight out of mind after all, while she could not see it she paid no attention to the red raw skin, and it pained her much less.

Miroku followed the direction of his fiancé's gaze and his eyes too widened once they lightened on her arms. He caught one of her wrists in one of his large hands, being careful of course not to grasp the damaged skin too tightly, and brought it in front of her face almost accusingly. He studied the fear in her eyes and the messed up hair. He did not miss a single scratch or bruise on her body and his eyes narrowed in suspicion and anger towards who dared to do this to his best friend. "Kagome," he said in a deathly quiet voice, it was almost whispered in a hiss to stop him shouting in anger. "Who did this to you Kagome?"

She could not hold it in any longer and she needed to let it out, she needed to tell her friends everything like she did when she was a young child. The slightest problem she had had in the past, whatever it may be from miko training to Shippou's unruly behaviour, she always spilt to her best friends first, and they almost always had a solution ready and waiting. They had to help her this time too, and if they could do anything at all, she promised she would not ask them to do anything else for her ever again if that is what they so wanted, but she needed their support now, she needed them to fight for her.

She was so scared and betrayed and hurt after all this, and above all she felt so stupid for what she had done. She was meant to be a strong miko and yet she had let her guard down and made such a stupid decision, such a stupid mistake. She knew it had been too much for her, she always had to be perfect and get things right first time to escape dire consequences like death and she had failed that. Yes she hated the responsibility but it had been laden upon her all the same and she had not coped, now the repercussions of that... Kagome could not bear to even imagine. They were talking about a demon Lord here, the strongest demon Lord in existence with a vengeance and an army to help him exact his revenge.

Kagome burst into tears as emotion broke through her carefully constructed walls. She collapsed into the arms of the young woman she had considered her sister ever since they met about twelve years ago. The lecherous monk who was like an older brother when he was not touching her or other women wiped her streaming eyes and rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down enough so she could speak. Kirara helped as much as she could do too by purring soothingly and rubbing herself against her calves. They held onto her while she cried her heart out, surprised by the rare outburst of raw emotion they seldom saw in her.

"Sango, Miroku," she choked, finding it difficult to just speak, "I have made a terrible mistake." It was difficult to understand her through the crying and that just made it all the more important for them to hear what she was saying. They were heartbroken by the mess there friend was in and needed to know what caused this.

"What's happened Kagome," Miroku ordered.

"It started about three months ago. My father gave me an Inu slave for my birthday; he thought he was being a good father."

"You hate the idea of having a slave."

"I know Sango. That's what... I told him, my slave... I mean, Sesshoumaru... is his name, I told him... I'd like... for us to be... friends."

"Kagome you must never do that! Many demons will take that as an open invitation to take dominance as is their nature."

"I didn't know that then!"

"Oh my Gosh!" Sango blanched.

"He's gone completely crazy guys. He's raged war against all the humans, as in every human owning a slave. He's gone on a rampage killing every person involved in the slave trade and has this army of youkai behind him. I tried to stop him, I told him that he could do this civilly if he had to do it at all but he's too powerful, he was one never meant to be subdued. I have never sensed such power before; it is hard to believe he was a slave once.

When I realized I couldn't win against what he was doing I told him I wanted out. I said he was free and that I didn't want anything to do with him or what he was doing to the world. It was a cowardly move but I was scared, I am still scared. He got so mad, and told me I was not going to go anywhere, he reminded me that I told him when we first met that he wasn't my slave and therefore he was not bound to my will.

He told me that I had to obey him, or, and, well I," she couldn't continue. She remembered his angered face, his snarling and growling. The images of slaughter and bloodshed were still fresh inside her mind and refused to be erased. The ropes around her wrists and her ankles, being carried over his shoulder and in his arms when she refused to follow him like a slave. Being locked in his room in the tent to make sure she did not escape.

Why did he even hang onto her? She thought she was doing him a favour saying that if she could not stop him then she wanted out. Why was he being so damn possessive of her? Did he want to show off? Show that he had managed to capture a miko and gain control. Why had she been so trusting so quickly anyway? She was so stupid.

"I need your help guys, please."

Sango was hurt and Miroku looked shocked. He had never heard of a slave who had revolted to this extent before. Many had escaped or been granted freedom, but to attack and free other slaves on this scale was different.

It was the news going around at the moment about a slave who had started the revolt and had sparked renewed vigour in all current slaves. It was Kagome's 'slave' who had started it then. It was said though that the slave was formerly a demon Lord, one of high status and extremely high power which came as no surprise. If a slave was going to start a revolution it would be one fighting to renew their honour and standing. Where would it end though, when demons won and once again ruled? He did not know that world would be like.

But he could not think about that now, it was not the most pressing matter. What was most important now was his friend's safety. She was so fearful, and she was after all in danger, they had to protect their young miko friend like they had been doing ever since they met her as a young child. If a demon was going to threaten her then he would have to go through them to get to her, no one would hurt Kagome while they had something to say about it. They were her friends; friends were loyal and fought for each other.

Sango was the best demon slayer in all the lands, she had been asked to help capture demons for the slave trade. Not approving of the custom she had declined, but was powerful and killed rogue demons who still broke out a terrorized local communities. Miroku too was skilled in hand to hand combat and although a usual happy-go-lucky character was surprisingly serious and skilled when fighting for his friends.

"Don't you worry Kagome," Miroku assured, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Do not fear, Sango and I will protect you."

Kagome smiled and nodded, mantra falling into silence. She fell asleep on his shoulder, emotionally and physically drained, all she wanted to be safe.


	16. When I'm gone

**Next chapter guys, sorry for the wait, I was on camp with the guiding unit – anyhow, enjoy the next chapter.**

**When I'm gone**

After another day Kagome was feeling a lot better and a smile was back on her face which assured her friends. "Sango, Miroku, he is going to find me eventually and I am pretty sure he will take me back, I need you to do something for me."

Miroku immediately opened his mouth to protest but Kagome held a finger up to his mouth. "Please hear me out Miroku, just listen. I do not want you to get hurt but I need you to help me with stopping Sesshoumaru, this war cannot go on. I need you to find my family, tell Souta to be good and when he sees a demon to pay ultimate respect, just in case. Tell my mother... no, forget that, just find my father and tell him I'm in danger. Don't tell him how foolish I was, please, just tell him the demon was too strong and broke out of my command, I need his help."

"Kagome, that demon is not going to get you," Sango reassured putting a hand on her shoulder. "You do not have to worry," Miroku reinforced, "we'll protect you."

"Well you can try, that's for sure," cut in a new voice from behind them. This one was not soft and reassuring; it was cold and dark, furious, frightening, and promised all sorts of pain from those who stood in his way.

Kagome turned nervously to face the demon who had found her. She moved behind her friends for protection, torn between needing them and not wanting to put them in danger. She whimpered in fright and snuggled into the warmth that their fire cat offered her, seeking comfort in even that small show of affection.

"I doubt though," the voice continued, "that you will get very far. I am soon to be Lord of the Western Lands and nobody stands in my way."

Her friends were standing for none of it.

"If you want to get to Kagome you will have to come through us," Sango declared, bracing herself ready to attack. Miroku echoed her declaration and made sure that their friend was shielded from the demon's view. They were a little scared, yes, but not afraid to do battle for Kagome's sake, surely one demon was not too much to handle.

Sesshoumaru said nothing for a moment while he looked at the pathetic humans keeping him from his most prized possession. Then a small sinister smile graced his lips, it was time to show how powerful a demon Lord was. If they wanted him to go through them then he would happily oblige, go right through them he would do. "Gladly," Sesshoumaru replied and wondered how he should dispose of them.

There was no point using his swords, it wasn't worth drawing them and dirtying them, it was unnecessary. He did not fancy dirtying his claws either though, and disembowelling them, though would solve the problem posed by them permanently, it would probably hurt Kagome beyond repair too, something he wished to avoid, so that was knocked out as well. While on the subject of hurting Kagome, perhaps he could start considering how to punish her for flying the cage.

He did not want to physically hurt her of course as that would defy the objective of protecting her. Perhaps then less freedom as that was the reason why she slipped past him in the first place and caused him to spend hours, over a day in fact searching for her, tracking her, trying to pick up her scent and follow. Then again that was not much fun, she had yet to learn her place but he did want to regain her trust eventually.

He would keep a constant eye on her! Not only would that bug the hell out of the girl but would keep her safe, amuse him greatly and keep others away from her. The sound of the ningens talking directed his thoughts away from such musings.

"He looks unsure Kagome; I think we may have caused him to think twice." It was the young woman with the oversized boomerang weapon talking.

"I'm sorry to say this Sango, and I'm trying not to put you guys down, but the only thing you have probably caused him to think about is how to kill you." Kagome was learning about his strength and how unwise it was to defy him at last then.

Sesshoumaru chose this moment to dive in, "you are right Kagome, I always knew you were smart," he interrupted, causing the women to gasp, not knowing that with his superior hearing it was a simple thing for him to overhear their conversation. "However, I am no longer considering the options, I have already decided on my approach. What I am currently considering is how best to punish you for evading me as you did."

"You have to catch her first demon!" Sango shouted and threw her boomerang at his head with surprising strength for a human. Unfortunately for her he was not some lower class demon and would not be stalled by such attacks.

He deflected it with a flick of his wrist sending it hurtling back towards her, making her dive out of the way to avoid being hit by her own weapon. This left Kagome wide open with only the monk left blocking his path. Before the monk even had time to react he used his super speed to get to him and knock him out of the way. He did not need his poison, sweeping him out of the way like the annoying bother he was he flew a good twenty metres to the left and would break a good many bones when he landed.

Kagome however was already in the air by this point upon the back of a fire cat. She was crying for the neko to turn back for her friends but was not being granted that wish. The cat was fast, but he was faster. Sesshoumaru gathered his youki powers and flew after them, giving chase, being the demon he was, it wasn't even fun.

Sesshoumaru was level with them inside of twenty seconds. It was clear skies so there was nowhere to hide. Sesshoumaru grinned evilly before striking out with his foot at the fire cat's ribs, hearing a sickening crack as three of them broke from the attack. The cat howled in pain and writhed in the air before nose diving. Kagome was thrown off of her back and let out a scream as she too plummeted towards the ground below.

Smiling, Sesshoumaru flew after her; he gathered her in his arms and then landed the two of them on the ground harmlessly. Kagome immediately began fighting and shouting for help, that was to be expected from her, but he hung onto her and she knew she was not going anywhere. "Do refrain from screaming and struggling like that, my ears are much more sensitive than yours and seeming as you know you are not going to be released there is no point in the protests."

"I'll scream if I want to Sesshoumaru!" She screeched as he sighed and just stood there allowing her to let it all out.

"Your lungs really are quite impressive."

Finally, fed up he lowered his mouth to hear ear and screamed himself. It was so loud it practically drowned her out and it shocked her into silence after a tiny bit. He had never made so much noise before and to be fair to her, it felt good.

He knew it hurt her ears by the small tear that formed in the corner of her eye but it wasn't loud enough to cause permanent damage to her hearing. When he was done he heard her moan a quiet "ow," in response.

"Now you know how I feel," Sesshoumaru said smugly.

"Poor you, how dare you reprimand me about considering your feelings when you're imprisoning me even though I've done nothing to you."

"If you would cooperate, what I do in return what not be necessary."

"You're killing people, and that is something as a miko I cannot accept. I protect people, and will not let you stop me. You harmed my friends, badly, that is something I can never forgive."

"I've explained this to you before, this is war. Killing people is necessary, and as for your friends, they simply got in the way, sacrifices have to be made."

"I cannot agree to that."

"You don't have to; all you have to do is follow me."

"I cannot dismiss what you are doing."

"Which is why I do what I do."

"Why are you hanging onto me anyway?" Kagome shouted, her fear disappearing and being replaced by anger. "I told you I will not stand in your way, I'm not powerful enough to do so, so just let me go!"

"It is not that you are a threat to me or anything; you are right in that respect, believe it or not, all I want is to ensure you remain safe. You are in the middle of a war between humans and youkai now, and I want to make sure you do not get hurt."

"I don't want to be part of this war."

"Whether or not you want the fate given to you in inconsequential, the point remains that you are, and therefore, you are my responsibility."

"Why would you care?"

"Well without you, I would not have been able to start this revolution."

"Don't remind me, it's the worst mistake I've ever made."

"I'm hurt."

"Good."

"Ouch."

"Go to hell."

"No need," Sesshoumaru growled mercilessly, "once I have won this war, for I will, I plan to bring hell to the Earth."

Wasting no more time, Sesshoumaru grabbed her wrist and started tugging her back in the direction of the den.

Kagome hissed in pain. That small noise made Sesshoumaru stop and he turned around so they were facing each other and he assessed her. After a moment of scrutiny as he noted the pain in her eyes, he brought her wrist up to his eye level to assess the damage. A flash of anger shot through him when saw that she was hurt.

"Who did this to you?" He growled in angry when he saw even this minor injury to her otherwise flawless immature pale skin. They would heal quickly but they were definitely painful for her. She was only just fifteen summers old, only a child, and no one was allowed to touch his pet.

"You did, you jerk," she muttered in reply.

He did? Ridiculous, he would never hurt her. Then in dawned on him...of course – the ropes from before. "Kagome I apologise, I forget that human skin is so much more fragile than a demon's. I promise I will be more careful in future." Sesshoumaru brought her wrist up to his mouth. He was so tall compared to her she was brought up to her tiptoes. Sesshoumaru licked the cuts; his saliva numbed all the pain and healed it so all that was left was the smallest of red marks around the wrist over where the deeper cuts had been.

Kagome felt a number of conflicting emotions, she was disgusted that she was being licked, fascinated at his saliva's power and confused by this show of care. One he had taken care of both wrists he asked her how she was feeling.

Kagome did not answer. She was tired from the running and the fighting, and it must have shown if the smirk on his smug face was anything to go by.

Sesshoumaru grabbed her forearms and hooked them round his neck. He picked her up bridal style and then kicked off into the air. Defeated and caught, the adrenaline rush stopped and despite her position, Kagome fell asleep inside of ten minutes. When she woke she would be back in the tent, in the same corner as she always stayed, and she was not sure whether Sesshoumaru just killing her or casting her aside would be better.


	17. No such thing

**No such thing**

"Sesshoumaru please, you know that it does not have to be this way! What was all that careful planning for if you are not going to execute everyone? Killing everyone is never the only option open to you; there are other things we can do! I know you do not want to talk things out; that it seems too _human _a thing to do, but it must be better than this! Sesshoumaru please, do this for me, you know I am a miko and I cannot stand all of this blood and death. If you have any care or respect for me or my miko heritage left at all – stop all this!"

He did not answer her, he did not listen, and he did not care. All that mattered to him were the screams of his victims as he sliced them open and soaked the ground in their blood. He was a demon, he was worse than that, he was no better than a rabid monster, a beast! He was not paying attention to her and if he ignored her then he was just going to keep killing. There was another way to do this and he was disregarding that way to win this war. Did he not think about how youkai and ningen alike fared in time of war?

"Sesshoumaru think about the time before the divide between youkai and humans. They could live side by side before, so who is to say they could not once again? There is still a village that abodes by those customs and they live undisturbed by all who say youkai must be slaves and all demons who say ningens are scum who must be killed. They lived with each other, helping each other, demons and youkai alike binding straw together, and building houses and forging weapons. Do you not want that unity anymore?"

This time he did respond and threw her down to the floor of nearest hut. He slammed the door shut behind them, letting her know it was just her and him now. she attempted to get up to face him but a glare had her cease her attempts and she lay where she had been placed on the floor. He allowed her to scuffle over to a corner of the room, the place of the hut she dubbed her corner. He did not sit; he stood over her, not three paces from her shivering position. She looked like a frightened child, that is what she was after all, and he was like a warlord about to pass judgement. Then he told her what she needed to know.

"What are you talking about Kagome? Honestly the blood really has gone to your head if you're still trying to convince this Sesshoumaru of another 'civil' way to deal with things. When will you realize that this is a war, and in war people get wounded and they die, it is the same for youkai. Wars are not pretty and they always come with bloodshed it is as simple as that. It is about time you learnt this lesson and accepted it because like you position or not you are now in the middle of this war. This is not a new war; it is one that has been raging for centuries, the fight for dominance, a fight where the winner is already determined."

He ran a hand through his silky silver mane and sighed. "You need to grow up Kagome, when will you realize what a war entails? I am going to lead my demons to win this battle, my army of youkai grows every day, we cannot fail, and I will not lead them to defeat, I owe them that much. I shall not let them go back into slavery and oppression, to ensure that we must win, and the war is not going to be won by slapping the other side on the wrist! I understand you are a miko and are pure of heart and soul, too pure in fact. Trust me when I say this Kagome, humans are not the victims here, you need to hear the whole story, about what it was like, about what it is still like for the demons of the world."

His eyes hardened, "While you are talking out of a scroll, talking about what you learnt happened through your years of studying, I was alive when it happened, I lived through it. So don't you talk to me as if you know better, because you do not know a thing. You just take whatever you read for truth and use accounts written by others, by humans, as facts that cannot be denied. I was there little miko, you forget I am a Taiyoukai, while you will live for a mere 60 or 70 years, I shall live for 60 to 70 centuries, your lifespan in but a breath in the expanse of time when compared to mine. While I look to be in my early twenties in your 'human years' I am in actual fact 1000 years of age and was a child when the time of peace reigned supreme.

If you wish to know of the past so desperately then very well, I will oblige you. I shall tell you about the time of peace those many centuries ago if you are so eager to hear it, fine. Though remember that these events have past and cannot be changed or resurrected, take it as a true account of fact and leave my memories behind us where they belong. Even the time of peace was not always so peaceful; remember that and it did not last long. Like most of the rare few things the humans do that are not entirely idiotic are messed up eventually by their compulsive need to eradicate each other for no just reason.

Even though youkai and humans were living in harmony and supposedly equal in the society, youkai have always been a step higher due to their superior physical abilities and supernatural powers. Youkai and ningens alike understood that youkai are superior, we always have been. Not only can I run so fast you cannot see more than a blur, I can track you scent and aura from 50 miles away. I can even smell your fear and uncertainty, whether you are being truthful or telling lies. What can humans even hope to do that hold up a candle to a youkai, and a Taiyoukai at that? Then answer of course is nothing!"

Suddenly he had her wrist in a tight grasp and was holding it above her head and up to his eye level as he examined it sceptically. "I mean look at you humans, you are nothing but one weakness after another, with the exception of mikos of course and the rare few who bother to train up their bodies. It was as if you were made to die, you start to decompose as soon as you are born, and your own anatomy is against you. Look no further than your own body as an example to show you my words are true.

You have no claws, and your female hand in so small and dainty it cannot even do hard work or hold something heavy. Your skin breaks too easily and you susceptible to even the mildest of poisons and acids and illnesses. You have no fangs, you have no shell, and you have no spikes, no poison, no acid, and no nothing. Your senses are so dull you may as well not be able to see, hear or smell at all. You are human and weak and all you can do is rely on your massive number and technology of yours to save you. Pathetic and useless – ningen.

Indeed you are right in your studies; there was a time that humans and demons were equal in the world. I was at the time prince to my Lands then and believe me when I say this: humans were only allowed to be considered equal because the youkai lords allowed it. Think of the massive difference in strength, demons could have enslaved all the humans had they wished. Yet for some reason the Lords took a liking to humans and there ways, some of them to the extent to creating hanyous. Then the humans got cocky, overconfident and ungrateful, and that is when things changed. After all the Taiyoukai's compassion for the disgusting breed, they decided to turn against those who trusted them.

They crafted weapons and turned them against us, for technology is all that could save them. They bred at a stupendous rate, families often siring over 10 pups – or children if you may, like animals they were, still are. The only commendable thing about the war was that they finally managed to not mess it up by starting yet more petty disputes among themselves to unite against such a formidable opponent. It worked at least, once they finally managed to stop killing themselves they made their one and only attack work. And one by one the youkai Lords fell, and that is because they were trying to kill as few of your pathetic species as possible.

Now you see, child, now you know, your words fall on deaf ears, they always have done, and they always will, because you know not of what you speak. While we decided to humour you by pretending to listen and take your thoughts into consideration, it never meant anything to me, neither did it make a difference. You have been kept in the dark, but now you understand Kagome, a war is what it is going to come down to; it is what it has come down to. You are in the middle of a bloodbath that the humans only brought upon themselves because of their selfishness and stupidity. Do not call out pleas for mercy, that time for such troubling and weak emotions are long gone. I am a Taiyoukai and I do not feel pity for those who deserve their miserable fate. You should learn your place, shut up and submit and just let it happen."

"I cannot submit when there is carnage going on needlessly, it is against my nature to do so. I still do not see why humans and demons cannot coexist. You say that it all but failed before, then cannot a try for peace be attempted again? I know it can be done Sesshoumaru, I just know it, but the demons need their ruler to lead them into this new era of peace. You said it yourself, war is not pretty, so why not end it all now, put a stop to this war that has been raging for centuries. It is time to put all conflict behind us and move forward. Please do this for me Sesshoumaru; life will be so much better for all.

There were so many kind-hearted youkai who lived in harmony with the humans in or near their villages. They helped defend the villagers in times of trouble, and in turn the humans welcomed them as their own. Villages which had peaceful youkai living among them had far less chance of being raided, by humans or youkai alike, than those who faired on their own or with only their miko to guard them. They coexisted side by side, completely equal and they fared so much better, they were happy, it was done before, and it can be done again.

There is such a thing as a good demon Sesshoumaru, think of Shippou and Kouga, even you were good, at least to me for a while, I believed! And good humans and mikos too, like me, I fight for what is right, which is why I wanted to fight for you! But you betrayed my trust when I thought you were different from the stories like I thought I was different from the humans. But you treated me like everyone else and it just comes to show that I should have done the same to you, treated you like other humans do demons. I do not want us to be enemies and there was a time I called you my friend, I still want to do so."

"You are wrong, Kagome, there is no such thing as a good demon."

"There is also no such thing as an impure miko."

"I never said you were not pure, you will always be that, you are just a captive. I'd be inclined to give you more freedom if you would just resign yourself to the fact you are never going to leave me. For now though, just think of yourself as a captive of war. Good night."

Kagome did not sleep that night, but she stayed wide awake with a stone she picked up from the one of the rare hours he had let her walk on her own two feet. Once Sesshoumaru was asleep she set to work cutting through the binds on her wrists the best she could. But try as she might, it did not work, because they were chains, and no sharp stone was going to cut through metal. She thought about his words instead, 'there is no such thing as a good demon.' And her reply, 'there is no such thing as an impure miko'.

There is also no such thing as a miko who would assist in a war like this. She brought her knees up and rested her chin on them, wrapping her arms around her shaking figure. "Sango, Miroku, Kirara, I am so sorry," she whispered. "Souta, daddy, I need you daddy, I am sorry, I made a huge mistake, I need your help daddy, please."


	18. How I hate you

**This again was originally longer, but I started veering off to explain things in this chapter as well and going over Kagome's memory as a recap. So the next chapter, which will be written soon, is basically the second half of this one, but you have waited long enough. So sorry for the wait guys, I have been focusing on 'pure of heart', though that needs to be updated too...**

**Enjoy, and please REVIEW, I need to know what people think.**

**How I hate you**

"I hate you," Kagome said in a monotone voice, legs crossed, arms (now with no binds on), upon seeing what it did to burn her skin he no longer used rope, folded over her chest. She stared at the dog demon in front of her, wondering if it was possible to kill him by glaring daggers at him, or if a real dagger would kill him anyway. Every day, he was getting closer to his ultimate goal, becoming the Daiyoukai of the Western Lands, with every kill he was getting closer to the palace that was once his, and it sickened her.

Death sickened her, it always had even though she understood it came to all, demon and human and her, one day. It was just a natural part of life, but Sesshoumaru had made her rue it even more, because of the bloodshed. Blood being shed unnecessarily sickened her too, and Sesshoumaru with his army of youkai spilt far too much on an hourly basis. It sickened her that they would take pleasure in the sadistic action, that they would eat the victims, or bathe in the blood and not bother to wash the metallic scent off with water until days later.

It sickened her also that she had assisted in all of this. It was her fault and she knew this, she had set the ball rolling, being a naive and stupid little girl. She did not think about the consequences, that was a downfall, she never thought about the future; whereas Sesshoumaru never thought of anything else... now look at her position. True, it was she who was the evil one, which was the youkai holding her captive. Still, without her doing what she did, he would still be a slave... but... would she have done anything differently?

That was another thing that sickened her, the keeping of slaves, it always had. She never agreed to it, she knew in her heart it was wrong, because they had feelings too. Breaking a youkai's back and making them beg and a slave just because of their species was inhumane, demonic... no... it was evil – yes – that was evil. But humans were in the same boat should the position be reversed, humans also had feelings and dreams and aspirations and names, and a life. Humans did not deserve to be slaves either, no one and nothing did deserve such oppression, and the fact Sesshoumaru wanted to make it so – it sickened her too.

She had met demons who were kind and civilised, just like humans, demons she loved and who loved her. There was the wolf tribe leader, Kouga, he was the demon form of Miroku, but he protected her much more vigilantly and successfully. Well, that was until dog boy got to him, now she hardly ever saw him, and when she did, he just followed Sesshoumaru, never going against him. He followed the soon to be Western Daiyoukai like the cowardly puppy he was with his tail between his legs, only leaving his side to tend to his friends Ginta and Hakkaku or the woman who hung off him, the silver wolf Ayame.

Then there was Shippou, another wonderful youkai, her son whom she loved, it made no difference to her that he was a demon and she took him in with no second thoughts. In return it made no difference to the darling little boy that she was a miko and he accepted her as his mother instantly. She hardly ever saw that loveable little orphaned ball of orange fluff either, but she was glad that he was not here and in the neutral village. That meant that he was not in danger and he did not see the treatment to his mother either – it would break him if he did.

Then again, there were the people who told her horror stories of the demons. People like her father, they told her that they hunted and ate human flesh – something she now knew to be true. She had been told that demons were nothing but bloodthirsty savages and that a life of slavery was a merciful fate for humans to exact upon them as in actuality, every single one of the deserved to die a long, slow and painful death. Kagome had tried to dismiss these stories, as just that, fictional stories, things her father said, things with no meaning.

"Not true, not true," she had told herself again and again, rocking back and forth in the dark as she considered her father's words. They were just things that were designed to plant the seeds of hate and unexplained anger deep within the minds of every human, even as a child, leading to youkai torment when they grew older and gained a slave of their own. "Not, true, not true," she had said, was that right though, she was beginning to doubt it. Not every slave or, demon rather deserved what they got, like Shippou and Kirara and Kouga and his men. She glanced at Sesshoumaru smirking at her from the doorway, but some did.

It was the same for demons regarding humans though, and she was pretty sure it was truth what Sesshoumaru had told her not a couple of nights ago: humans were only allowed to be considered equal because the youkai lords allowed it. Think of the massive difference in strength, demons could have enslaved all the humans had they wished. Yet for some reason the Lords took a liking to humans and there ways, some of them to the extent to creating hanyous. Then the humans got cocky, overconfident and ungrateful, and that is when things changed. After all the Taiyoukai's compassion for the disgusting breed, they decided to turn against those who trusted them.

They crafted weapons and turned them against us, for technology is all that could save them. They bred at a stupendous rate, families often siring over 10 pups – or children if you may, like animals they were, still are. The only commendable thing about the war was that they finally managed to not mess it up by starting yet more petty disputes among themselves to unite against such a formidable opponent. It worked at least, once they finally managed to stop killing themselves they made their one and only attack work. And one by one the youkai Lords fell, and that is because they were trying to kill as few of your pathetic species as possible.

He had said that to her with hate and mirth in his eyes and her reply had not helped – that there were good demons, 'there is no such thing as a good demon'. Surely that was not right, there was such a thing as a good demon, even he was a good demon to start off with, before his craving for power, and that craving alone led him astray. She remembered once more the times she had rocked back and forth chanting 'not true', that is what led her to become such a pure miko, and then fate led her to meet her slave, Sesshoumaru.

The day she met this demon, this Sesshoumaru, the one who was to be her slave, she made a vital mistake. The vital mistake in fact, the worst mistake of her short life, and never before had she made a mistake, and never would make one so bad. She was beginning to think that maybe it was the only decision she had made since meeting him, seeming as he took over her life pretty quickly over that and that was just one more reason as to why it was such a huge mistake: she took pity on him. she chose to treat him like a human individual because she believed they were all the same instead of treating him for what he was – a demon.

Taking pity on him led her to the next steps which spelled out her doom; she treated him like a friend instead of a slave and promptly freed him. Freeing him was the worst thing she could have done because it led to the situation she was in now. She knew better than anyone that accidents come with conclusions, they always did, and here she was, paying for her mistakes. She was the captured one now, not a slave, oh no, she had not been asked to do anything. She was just a prisoner of war, she was Sesshoumaru's.

She remembered once more when she had pressed him upon expanding on that declaration the last time he had said it. 'You're what?' she had asked because it did not make sense to her then to end the remark there. And he had no answered with anything else; he had just said she did not understand because she was not youkai _or a sadistic, possessive bastard. _'You're mine... just mine'. No, she refused to believe that, she refused to ever believe that, she was not his, she belonged to no one but herself, the mantra of before came back to her.

Here she was now, away from her home, her friends, her family and the life she knew. The miko in training who hated the too much responsibility always piled upon her. The young 15 year old miko who was not allowed to make mistakes, she had never been allowed to make mistakes... and it did end in disaster – she was such a fool. And now... now she had no responsibility, or choices, or life, nothing but one chaotic day after another full of all the things that sickened her: death, bloodshed, Sesshoumaru and the reminders of her stupid mistake.

"I hate you so fucking much," she said again as he came closer to her, she knew by now that hurtful words were not going to ward him off or hurt him, but it was all she had left. She wanted to strike out at him with her miko powers, but as much as she wanted to hurt him and hate him, she could not have him die. It was just like he had said, she relied on him for protection from the others, she did not want to and only hated him more for it, but he was right all the same. She needed to look no further than the one who had thrown her off a cliff only a month or so ago, it had only been a few months since this whole thing started in fact – it seemed a lifetime ago.

He smirked in response, and Kami she had grown to hate that smirk so much, it showed everything that he truly was, smug and confident and egotistical, and a jerk – a super jerk. She sat up straight and jutted her chin forward in defiance and tried to look stern – when matched with his authority, it fooled no one and gained her nothing. "I mean it, I am a miko, one of purity and forgiveness, I have never hated anyone before, I preach against it. As a rule I try to always and only look for the good in people and youkai, even you."

His smirk grew wider as he stalked towards her and she let rip with words and all her pent up feelings which meant nothing to him. "Yet when I look at you my skin crawls, all I feel is darkness, distrust too, betrayal, pain and fear. There is a lot of blood on your hands Sesshoumaru, too much blood, too much innocent blood, it is sickly, you are sickly, and you disgust me." He did not halt and carried on coming closer to her. She tried not to feel intimidated, and she was not scared of him, but... he had a lot of power, the power to do a lot of harm. She had a feeling he would not hurt her... but the capability was still there should she push him over the edge. But she wanted to push him... get him angry... hurt him... somehow.

He still said nothing as he walked over to her and crouched down on his haunches so they were at eye level. They were no more than 10cm apart; she could feel his hot breath on her cheeks as he towered over her even at a crouch. His smile became a full blown smile and she scowled at him as she saw his glistening canines that were more like fangs. He held his chin in one palm and stared at her face, he seemed to be examining her for something, contemplating what he saw. "You know you are kind of cute when you pout like that."

Kagome gave a very Inu like growl in response – that was so not the reply she was looking for, she would have preferred him to have remained silent. He leaned closer and Kagome knew that he was going to sit next to her instead of leave her alone like she wanted. He smiled further at her outraged expression, "you are insulted by my comment?" He examined her expression again, "yes I can sympathise with that reaction, it is insulting, you look _extremely _cute when you pout, maybe it is because you are young, and you are childlike as it is anyway."

"You move another millimetre closer to me and I swear I will rip out your intestines and use them to throttle you!" She spat in a level voice, in a harsh tone that contained venom more deadly than that which dripped from the demon's claws.

All he did though was laugh in her face and sit next to her anyway, "that is an idle threat and you know it," he said with a grin, flashing his fangs. "Do not make promises you cannot keep and end up committing yourself to the impossible," he said in offhand tone. The way he talked was as if he actually expected her to be able to carry out the threat on any being or animal. She was all talk; everyone knew that, even Kagome. She tried to turn away from him as best as she could and gave no reply to his reprimand.

"So you are ignoring me now are you?" he did not actually sound at all bothered, he was not remotely interested or in the least bit surprised. He relaxed back against the wall she was propped up against herself and lazily draped an arm around her shoulders casually, pulling her closer. She would have recoiled away from him but another wall was in her way seeming as she was sitting in a corner. So she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, well, a wall and a Daiyoukai, but the same principle applies, he was way too close for comfort.

"You know it is funny, I have actually had cause to carry out that threat before, but now I prefer to stick to faster and cleaner ways of killing. For you see, once you slit open their gut and drag out their entrails, they go into shock usually because of the pain and lose too much blood. They are dead before you can get half of them out of the body. So after that there is really no point in moving onto their neck because-"

"I didn't need all the gory details bastard!" She shouted at him, rounding on him with a snarl of her own, and her face pale. Making an offhand comment like hers warning him to stay back was one thing, but with Sesshoumaru, she did not doubt for one moment he wasn't bluffing.

The Daiyoukai put on a face of mock reprimand, "you know you should really watch that sharp tongue of yours when you are speaking to me. You do realize that I hold your life in my hands, and that without me you will surely die?" He managed to somehow maintain that bored tone in his voice when he said that, as if the matter was nothing of importance, but she knew it was to him. He may treat her in a demeaning matter that made her want to kill him, or herself, but for some reason, he wanted her to be safe and well and looked after.

She would never understand him.


	19. Payback's a bitch

**O.K, so Kagome is not as weak in this chapter as she has been in others. They will start to gain some common ground in a few chapter time, Sesshoumaru is just a bit confused about his feelings but he does honestly care about her – really, I tell the truth. Anyway, I'm sorry for the late update, but please read and enjoy. It is good honestly; I don't know why the fic is so unpopular.**

**Payback's a bitch **

He was a conundrum; Kagome had decided that this was the best way to describe him. She called him bastard and bloodthirsty and evil Daiyoukai, but first and foremost he was a conundrum. She had always been a good judge of character, or at least so she had thought, and Sesshoumaru was nice for the first couple of weeks she had known him. Despite what she had been told by Keade about seeing through masks and deceit to know the true hart of a person, she learnt that old sayings held true, first impressions were indeed not everything. After all, once he got a pack and a taste of the power he once held, Sesshoumaru showed her his true colours.

"Stay away from me or I'll purify your guts." Her voice held no conviction at all, it was not like she could convince anyone she was capable of hurting him the way she wanted to and said she would. She had to wait for the right time to strike, right now he had her wrapped, unable to kill him at forfeit of her own life. If she was to run away, a feat that would be extremely difficult, even more so than before seeming as she was in chains instead of rope, he could and would easily bring her back. No she was not having a good time, if there was a Kami up there, either it was not very powerful to help out, or it really didn't like her.

"Enough with those idle threats that mean nothing," he said in a tone that sounded almost bored. "Besides, is that really an appropriate way to talk to someone who went to all the trouble to bring you your favourite meal?" He picked up a small pot that he had set down shortly after entering the hut and held it out to her to see. Lifting the lid up she could see that Sesshoumaru had held true to his word, he had brought her sushi. She had not liked sushi all that much really until she met him, because it was the first meal she had given him. It gave her hope because it reminded her of the time that she and Sesshoumaru were on common ground with one another.

At last it was a decent meal, that is on that is not barely cooked meat. Sesshoumaru admittedly was good at tending to her needs and often made sure she ate twice a day in the morning and the evening. He gave her fruit most of the time seeming as plenty of it grew on their travels, primarily blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apples, plums and pears, there was not much else available a human could eat. She did not have time to go steal things from farms, not that she would, he did not let her out of his sight, and they did not visit marketplaces.

She was used to growing her own food but seeing as they changed camp every day, there was not time to settle down with a vegetable patch. What is more, in the mornings once she woke they were on the road about twenty minutes later at the most, there was hardly any time to eat breakfast, let alone cook it first. Sesshoumaru made sure there was some left for her, she hated rare meat but there was no time, so either she ate it barely cooked, or ate tiny amounts a little more well done. While she was not in a permanent state of hunger, it had been a little while since she finished a meal, or what could pass for one, and feel full.

This was completely different, this was a proper meal, it was raw meat again, but it was sushi, it was not at all dangerous, and it was all packaged up nicely. She was actually on the verge of being grateful for the gesture, but kept herself in check, she was not completely insane or accepting her position as his yet. This guy was such a conundrum, he kept her barely fed, well, overstuffed for a Daiyoukai, but not so much for a human and then went out of his way to get her a meal out of the blue. After all, this was not something you could harvest in a few minutes, he had gotten it from a market, she doubted it had been paid for though.

Without another word she held her hands out for the pot, quite prepared to pour it into her mouth in a matter of seconds. However before she reached it he held it out of reach, making her frown in confusion and anger. What exactly was he planning on doing; eat it in front of her while all she could do was watch on hungrily? That was definitely a sure way to get you purified, that was not even being a jerk, and he was without a doubt and Grade A jerk, doing that that was just being pure evil. "Aw come on, I'm hungry," she whined, holding out her hands again to take the meal once more, "give me the sushi Sesshoumaru," she pouted. She did not have the will or the energy to be angry or demanding, she just wanted the food.

"What's the magic word?" He asked her, arching an eyebrow with that smug little smirk still upon his face. Damn it all he was teasing her again, that was another conundrum of his, he reprimanded and scolded others, he was menacing and a cold blooded killer and then he turned to her and teased her. He killed hundreds, literally hundreds of people and made sure their deaths were gruesome and painful, well, that was an exaggeration but there were other ways to kill someone than giving them a gut wound. He allowed lesser demons to devour their victims, or leave them to wild animals, and then he turned to her and brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears.

"Give it to me NOW!" She ordered, finding the strength somehow though the will was gone, she was tired of letting him get to her at every turn.

Sesshoumaru smiled down at his little spitfire almost fondly, and decided to relent, "well seeming as you asked me so nicely I guess you can have it," he conceded. Without warning he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. "It cannot be at all comfortable there on the cold hard floor," he offered in explanation, trapping her on his thighs with the cage of his arms around her. He reached for the pot and chopsticks again but did not offer them to her, he held onto them. Kami she hated him so fucking much.

It was when he speared a piece of the sushi with the chopsticks he had also brought and held it up to her mouth that she realized what it was he intended to do. "No thank you, you do not have to feed me like a baby, I am more than capable of feeding myself," she informed him hoping to be helpful, somehow she knew it was not going to be enough. She did not say 'ah' for the food, there was a limit, even she only put up with so much. She wanted to know why he was so sure he could push a miko's patience like the way he did. She did not want to kill him, he was true it would not be her wisest decisions, but even he was not as omnipotent as he thought.

"You'll eat from my hand, literally, or you won't eat at all," he said simply, prodding at her lips once again, and once again she did not comply. "I could do this all day little miko, why don't you make it easier on yourself and humour me." Kagome knew that Sesshoumaru was the only person more stubborn than she was and that there was a very real possibility he was willing to carry out that threat in the near future. However if she was to give in and eat the meal thee way she was suggesting she did then there was also a very high chance that this was the way she was going to be eating all of her meals from now on.

She knew he enjoyed being close to her, she called it torture, because she hated being near to him, but really the things he enjoyed the most were not horrid. Whenever he went to bed and she was still awake and when he carried her because she was a slow human or could not run up sheer cliff faces like he and the other youkai could he always enjoyed it. His face relaxed into a blank expression, not an emotionless mask, but one of peace with even a small smile detectable curling around his lips. And he purred as he held her in his arms or against his back, even though he was an Inu not a neko, he emitted soothing growls of contentment.

She focused on the miko power within her and brought it to the surface slowly, using all of her concentration. She was used to channelling her power through her hands but they were locked at the moment and were not really a whole lot of use. But if she could bring her holy energies simply to all of her skin and project it outwards, she would succeed in paying him back. She would not fire blindly at him though she doubted even her best attempt would not kill him, she would use just enough to burn him. She would hurt him, just enough to knock him unconscious, but not enough to kill him, even if she could.

He kept prodding at her lips and teasing her, but she kept her mouth locked tight shut. Then suddenly she shot it all forward, her whole body burning with miko powers, purifying energy stinging him. She did not hold back, she knew it took a lot to harm him, but it seemed to do the trick, he let out a short cry and then his eyes rolled back in his head and his limbs went lax around her as his muscles lost all tension as he fell under the blanket of consciousness. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for hr achievement, it had been surprisingly easy, she wondered why she had never done it before. She guessed it was just like erecting a barrier, but close to your skin, against your skin in fact and making it powerful enough to burn.

Sesshoumaru she knew was incredibly tough, so either he was tired when he came in to give her the meal, or he was already injured or weakened somehow. Another possibility was that he was just so relaxed and unsuspecting he never imagined it would happen. He had underestimated her, he had been far too smug and overconfident that he had complete control over her and she was unable to retaliate in any way. This was a win for her and nothing else, none of the other demons would come in, the cry had not been loud enough to alert them and he was their Lord, it was not like they would think him in trouble or in need of help.

She was perfectly safe, and for the first time in a while she allowed a small smile to crawl onto her lips. Sliding out of the sleeping Daiyoukai's lap she laid him down on the floor and dragged him half onto the futon, she could not be bothered to take him any further and lazily dropped a blanket over him. she was not entirely sure why she bothered with that, he should not wake up until morning, and his injuries would be most way healed by that point too even though he was scorched from head to toe. There would still be visible marks but if anyone dared ask she was sure Sesshoumaru would not admit to being caught off guard by his little pet miko.

She grabbed the pot of food and the chopsticks and proud of herself settled herself on her bed and began to eat. It was the nicest meals she had ever tasted, she got over the fact it was probably stolen, maybe even the food of the dead, but it was good fish. Once she finished she set the pot down and snuck a look outside the shelter they were in for tonight. There were demons milling around everywhere, some of them were drunk, that would make them dangerous. She could not fight off dozens of demons for an undetermined amount of time while she ran an unknown distance at a pace 100 times slower than them.

She had just made a conquest but she was not big headed, or stupid. As much as she wanted to, she knew she would not be making her escape tonight. She would wait, but she would not give up, she knew that she couldn't, not now, not ever. She settled back down to bed and pulled the covers up to her chin and just lay there staring at the ceiling. A painful groan came from the daiyoukai in his sleep and a smile came to her face once more, he was definitely going to have a really stiff back, sore burns, and one hell of a headache in the morning. She could safely surmise however that he got whatever came to him, it was due.

That would teach him not to underestimate mikos, although she realized that sadly she was probably not going to get the same chance again. He was going to have his guard up at all times now, but hopefully would not be pulling her into his lap all the time. She was not a weakling and she was not broken, she had friends and family who would never give up on her. All she had to do was be patient and keep hope and a mantra or two to pray on and keep going.

Another pained groan came from the sleeping demon.

"Take that bitch."


	20. Enter Onigumo

kawaiihikari1995 – THANK YOU ONCE MORE. This girl here has been an awesome ego booster for me. Thank you for reviewing every chapter and reassuring me of the story's awesomeness and what not, you are great.

Seeming as I am losing patience with the story it will be written in drabbles and short chapters from now on, but updates will be quicker. Sorry if this disappoints anyone but there will be more action this way and less over description.

**Enter Onigumo**

"Onigumo!" the man turned around at the sound of the familiar voice in time to see a woman stumbling towards him, clutching an injured side. He caught the woman who looked close to fainting and held her in his arms; she was a dear friend to his most prized member of his family after all. He frowned in confusion, for her to be this frantic, and for her to seek him out, there was probably something wrong with Kagome. She was also strong, a skilled slayer of youkai vermin, and she was completely battered, an in a healing state as well, which meant she had been worse.

"Sango my dear," he said, shaking her gently, "what on Earth happened to you?" He held her to his chest, "tell me what happened."

"The demon you gave Kagome, the Daiyoukai, he managed to break his collar, he is keeping Kagome prisoner, she is in danger." He almost dropped her in surprise and fear. When a youkai breaks his collar they are free and usually not in the best of moods with their master or mistress. The demon he had purchased for his daughter was a Daiyoukai too, powerful, but he had been assured the collar would not break, that it couldn't, that she was safe. He would have time to kill the woman for giving him to him later, for now he had a daughter to save.

"Is the demon the one who attacked you?"

She nodded.

"What about Kagome, did he harm her."

A shake of the head, then she stopped, "well I am not sure, not physically, I don't think. Seeming as she had to escape from him though, I would not say she is well. But the demon you got her, it is the one wreaking havoc all over Japan. If it is not stopped and soon then it will turn the tables on the whole slave trade, the youkai will rise to power."

"Daisuke!" He called, and a man in his mid thirties came over. "Take care of her," he ordered, grabbing a sword and sheathing it. It was time for him to head out, no on stole anything from him, and nobody was going to hurt his daughter, the only person he really cared about. "COME ON, GET UP MEN!" He shouted to the group around him, "WE'RE HEADING OUT, WE HAVE A DEMON TO KILL!" And kill him he would.

It had been a week since she had outsmarted him and shot him with her miko powers and he had not tried anything so brazen since. He admitted that maybe he had been a bit ambitious doing what he had, he would make sure to be a little more reserved. He was going to be Western Lord very soon though; after all, they would reach the Western Palace by this morning. She was going to be living with him, he was not quite sure what as yet, while he did not want to place hr as low down as a servant he did not consider her his ward.

The girl right now was sleeping against his back which was a sigh of relief for him; she had not slept properly for ages. Ever since shooting him she had been sleeping with one eyes open just in case to make sure he was not going to attempt to retaliate. She must have been tired for this was one of the most uncomfortable positions to sleep in. Her hands were cuffed together seeming as ropes chafed her wrists so much; he was trying to be considerate. The metal chain attaching them was hooked around his neck and shoulders holding her to his back and one hand cupped each thigh. This time tomorrow he would once again be Western Lord.


	21. Messages

**Chapters are shorter now, but at least updates are more often. Enjoy this one, and do not forget to review!**

**Messages**

Sesshoumaru stopped midstride suddenly causing the army behind him to stop as well. He placed Kagome who was waking up after another one of her ridiculously long human sleeps back on the ground on her feet. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and he tousled her windblown black hair, she was too tired and sleep befuddled to work out what it was he was doing and register it. He kept one hand holding her shoulder, there was no real point, it was not like she could not run from him being as slow as a human was, but he liked being able to feel her.

He raised his hand signalling for the hundred or so demons behind him to be quiet and immediately they all fell silent. His right hand men came up beside him and shot him a queer look; unlike him they could sense nothing out of the ordinary, even though their senses were just as strong. He took a sniff, and then another one, and in response his hand tightened over the shoulder of the girl he was holding, not painfully so, but the grip was impossible to break out of. This was not good, he had already failed his people once, and did not intend for any of the demons under his rule to fall during his revolution, he could not let them die.

"Humans," was all he said to his generals beside him, "lots of them," he carried on walking forward, at a slower pace now they were at the Western fortress and the human was walking by herself. He could smell metal too, "there is an army of them, and they have weapons. There is no coincidence they are here, they knew we were coming here, they know it is me." what he did not say, because he did not want Kagome to know just yet, though she was inevitably going to find out was who the leader of the army was.

He would recognize that stench anywhere, the scent of the man who bought him and gave him as a present to his daughter. This was her father, the scent so similar and different at the same time, a man so vile he did not seem to fit the role of the father to a girl so pure, a miko. He would bet that he knew he had Kagome in his grasp as well and that this was a reason as to why he had assembled an army to fight him. A battle was fast approaching them, and it was going to be a real battle, not a slaughter, not an easy win, though a guaranteed win all the same.

Then suddenly one of his ranks appeared in front of him and dropped a human man in front of him, forcing him to his knees at his feet. "Found him in the bushes spying on us," the demon announced proudly stepping back. "Obviously he forgot about demon's smell, and that simply being downwind is not enough to hide. I told him he was going about this wrong and that if he requested to see us or to give us a message he was to go through the alpha." He smiled a sadistic smile and waited for his alpha to pass judgement on the man.

Sesshoumaru drew his sword and placed it under the silent man's chin and tapped it, demanding silently for him to rise. The fear in his eyes pleased him, he should be terrified and he only reason he was not screaming was because he knew he would definitely be killed for it. His eyes flicked to Kagome and recognition flicked through his eyes. To prevent any messages from being relayed he pushed the girl behind him and she was engulfed in the mass of demons under his rule. He turned his full attention back on the man in front of him, not once taking his amber eyes off the brown human ones and not once withdrawing his sword.

"You are part of the army a couple of miles ahead of us," he stated, "securing the Western Castle." He got a nodded answer. "You are under the rule of a human slayer who goes by the name of Naraku when he is in battle," he got another nod. "You are a messenger," he withdrew is sword and turned him around so his back was facing him and leant close so he was whispering in the now terrified and shaking man's ear. "Well do your job; I have a message for you."

"Tell him to ready his army because before the hour is out every one of his soldiers will be dead. Tell him to be afraid because I will kill him slowly and torturously and no one could hope to hold a candle up to me. Tell him to be prepared because he will never get his daughter back, she is mine now, and I will make her watch as I kill him." He took a couple of steps back from him and slapped his backside with the flat of his sword. "GO!" He ordered and then man ran the two miles back to his camp faster than he had ever run before.

He threw Kagome over his shoulder and waited a few minutes until the man was but a spec in the distance before he signalled for his demons to charge forward.

Onigumo was dressed in his armour and had fully transformed into Naraku and was stamping out the remains of the fire when his messenger returned to the camp site, his eyes wide and his face was white. "They're here," he shouted, arms flailing in the air as he practically barrelled into him, full message forgotten, "and they are coming!"

Naraku did not have to say "who" or ask any more questions and did not have the time to do so anyway. "When?" He asked, "when will they arrive?"

"Right now!" Answered a seven foot tall dog demon with a teenage girl wrapped in his tail. His sword was drawn and he lunged at him. At the same time the hundred demons behind him collided with the unprepared humans and the battle was on.


	22. Breaking point

**Sorry this one is so short. Please review it anyway. Sorry if there was confusion from the last chapter. Onigumo is Naraku, but not because he has gone though any transformation, Naraku is his battle name, like bat man. Same guy, no youkai infusion.**

**Breaking point**

Sesshoumaru learnt quickly that he had underestimated the army of humans. There were more of them than he had originally thought, just as many humans as there were demons. He learnt that he was not going to get away with no casualties; some of his youkai were going to die. He had his full attention on Naraku who was a skilled fighter, but he was aware of what was going on around him too, his youkai were falling one by one. The lesser demons were falling before the others of course not that his army harboured a single weakling.

He was hopeless to just watch, he could not help them or be attacked himself, or allow Kagome to be hurt, and he could not just let her go because she was in the middle of a battle. When the first demon fell, a sword right the way through his chest, something inside of him broke. He felt useless, used up, worthless and his fighting became more intense, three humans fell with every strike of his claws or whip or sword. He became a killing machine, own injury forgotten, the pain of his wounds barely even registered, let alone hindering him.

He wanted to transform into his true form and crush the humans beneath his massive paws. He found himself unable to do so though, because he had been retrained for so long. He still felt the restrictions and he found himself unable to contact his inner beast the way he had once been able to do with ease. His inner beast was still tormented, too tormented to reply when he usually teased with him all day long. Too hurt to answer even he broke the mental restraints holding him down, he did not leap to the foremost of his mind, he chose to remain caged. Something else broke in his chest, and the second demon fell.


	23. Not my father

**Oh no! What will Sesshoumaru do now? Guess you will have to read to find out what I mean and then read the answer. Writing short chapters like these by the way is so much easier! Do not forget to review!**

**Not my father**

The battle had been raging for an hour now and they were nowhere near finishing it. His threat was now idle; he had not managed to wipe out the humans, though they had lost more than he had. Ten of his demons were dead, a further twenty were injured so much they could not continue to fight, but in comparison only 50 of the original 200 humans remained, one of those being Naraku. It would not be pyrrhic victory, but he would not be forgetting this battle, and a war it was. Never again would be underestimating humans.

He had lost Kagome at some point during the battle when his tail was struck from behind several times and he had not glimpsed her since. He did not know where she was, whether or not she was O.K, or if she was even alive. He did not have the chance to worry about her though, because he had to dispatch the human in front of him. The vile Naraku who reminded him of an arachnid, you would never guess he was as deadly as he was, beautiful in the way he fought, like dancing, it was exciting and gave him a rush. He needed to kill him, he deserved to die, and die he would, today, he hated it was taking so long to kill him.

Twenty minutes later three more injured demons had been killed, but in comparison, there were only twenty humans left including Naraku. There were three or four demons to each human, and they were killing them slowly to exact revenge for their fallen comrades, that is what you do in a pack after all. Then suddenly he struck Naraku in the side, catching him off guard when he was distracted by the pained howl of one of his right hand men, and he fell to the floor. With a sadistic grin he raised his sword for the final blow.

Kagome was frightened, running in between legs and dodging swords and whips and axes and arrows as they flew left, right and centre. She did not have a weapon and nothing but her miko powers to protect herself, but that only gave her protection from demons, humans could pass right through it. She had a few scratches from where she did not get out of the way of a sword quick enough and she was just trying to get out of the battle ground and somewhere safe. It registered in her this was a perfect time to try and escape.

She knew this was her father's army and wanted to find him, but she had searched for twenty minutes and if she stayed in the same place any longer she was going to end up being killed and she could not allow that to happen. She needed to stay alive to try and stop Sesshoumaru in his quest for supreme conquest; she still believed she had a chance at that after all. She could barely hear anything over the clashing of swords and pained howls as humans and demons alike were wounded and died in the battle.

She saw an opening into the vastness of the free world and ran for it, but just as she was about to break out her eyes caught the glimpse of a strand of raven hair so similar to her own. She turned around straight away just in time to see her father fall to the ground and she knew he was about to die. She saw Sesshoumaru raised his sword high in the sky, fully prepared to kill her father and something inside of her that gave her human boundaries broke.

She had already lost too much, Sesshoumaru had taken away her freedom, he had sent Shippou away, he had banned Kouga from talking to her and he had harmed her friends when they tried to help her. Because of him she no longer had a home or even a life and had not seen a member of her family for months. Her father may be a demon slayer and she may hate him for it, but a part of her still loved him for being her dad and no way was she going to let him be killed by her slave. She started running back into the battle, back towards her father, away from freedom, away from safety; Sesshoumaru was not going to kill him.

She heard, or thought she heard her father say her name as he saw her approach, warning her to stay away, to run and get to safety, that the battle was lost. She shook her head and just continued running towards him. She saw the sword begin its decent and knew she did not have the time to stop Sesshoumaru and he probably would not even register if she launched herself onto his back or clung to his arm. That left only one option, with one final burst of speed she jumped forward and landed on top of her father, covering his body with her own.

She wrapped her arms around his neck with a cry of "no!" A spilt second later the sword sunk deep into her side and her entire body exploded in pain.


	24. The life of one human girl

**I am so sorry this chapter is badly written, too much happens in so little space, I was just stuck on what to write for it, though I knew what I wanted to happen. By the way, the storyline has drastically changed from what I originally intended for it to be.**

**The life of one human girl**

The entire battle drew to a standstill as the girl cried in pain. Naraku reacted immediately, sitting up and cradling the girl in his lap like he used to do when she was just a baby. She coughed and cried into his chest, hands clamped to his side trying to stem the blood flow. Blood seeped through her fingers and Naraku could feel her grow cold in his arms, she was dying. He rocked her in his lap and tried to keep her talking, or crying or coughing, anything, any noise, any action that would give him assurance that she was still alive.

She coughed one last time and her eyes closed, she passed out from blood loss. Sesshoumaru finally snapped out of his shell shocked stupor and fell to his knees beside the pair. He ran his tongue along the length of the cut, lapping up the blood, but even his healing saliva was not enough to seal a cut this serious. Although it stopped bleeding it was still a massive open gash, it could start bleeding again if it was merely touched and it could get infected. It needed to be stitched and dressed, and nobody had any medical equipment on them.

Sesshoumaru reached for her, intending to lift her out of Naraku's arms and away to help her, but Naraku held onto her tight. "You have helped enough," he spat, reading his mind, "leave her alone, she is my daughter and I intend to protect her and I will save her." His amber eyes narrowed, he had seen good men to horrible things, but everything had an opposite, this one being, he had also seen terrible men to good things. Naraku was beyond terrible, and so was he, but they were brought together when it came to the wellbeing of one human girl.

Kouga ran over and dropped beside the dying girl, holding one of her hands in his warm ones, finally remembering her again, concern was etched onto his features. "Now is not the time to feel sorry for yourselves, the both of you!" He snapped angrily, "where is the nearest healer!"

His voice rang true in the listening ears and Naraku jumped to his feet, girl in his arms, springing into action. "The nearest healing quarters are in the Western Castle."

Sesshoumaru snatched the girl out of his arms, "that is my castle." Holding his human in one arm he pointed his sword at Naraku with the other. "I will save her, she is my responsibility," seeing the man open his mouth to argue, he shook his head, shutting him up. "Kagome almost died saving your life, I do not have the time to continue to battle with you. Take your surviving members of your army and I will take mine, if we see each other once more, we shall once more do battle."

"Hey! She is my daughter!"

"I'm letting you live," he retorted, "be thankful for that much!"

"And how do you intend to get into the Western Castle? He will send his army at you, and even if you defeat them, Kagome will die by that point!"

"I will find a way, I shall not allow her to die, she is strong."

"I can get in with no trouble. At least I know the Lord."

"That you do," he agreed. "I am the Western Lord!" That decided and declared he ran off towards the Western Castle.

His demons followed, the stronger ones carrying the injured ones, the dead left where they had fallen, if they had time maybe they would go back and bury them. They did not have time right now; they had comrades to heal and a girl to bring back from the brink of death. Naraku was left in his dust, shocked at what had just happened, arms feeling empty. To hide his own embarrassment, he shouted at what was left of his army.

"Well don't just stand there men!" He yelled, tearing off his helmet, "take off your hats and let's have a minute's silence for you fallen comrades, they died a warrior's death, you should be proud! We head back to base; we need reinforcements, and lots of them."


	25. Return of the King

**A short one, but it is more dramatic this way, hope you like it anyway, please review. I love this chapter for some reason, but then again I wrote it, and had great fun doing so.**

**Return of the King**

The new Lord of the Western Castle was a weedy human of no importance, hiding behind his army. Sesshoumaru with Kagome in his arms, and his own army behind him stood and faced them now. The weedy human, Sesshoumaru did not even see any point in learning his name, had at least had the decency to come out of his castle and stood behind his ranks. He wasn't scared, but he should be, because he was about to die, quickly, but painfully, he needed to get inside and had no time to mess about, and Sesshoumaru was not going to lose another soldier.

He looked at the ranks of warriors facing him and couldn't help but smile. The army was made up of demons, it was his army, but they had been forced to obey the new Lord. But he was their Lord, and now he was back, he was the only one they were going to obey. All their eyes were on him, they already accepted him back, were relieved he was here to save them. "Kill them all," the weedy human shouted, not a single demon moved, Sesshoumaru laughed, fear started to show in the man's face, it was about time to.

"Are you going to show respect to your Lord?" Sesshoumaru asked, walking forward and arching an eyebrow. Immediately the demons fell to one knee in respect and Sesshoumaru looked directly at he now terrified human, he was nothing but a coward after all, how did he ever manage to get this position? "You made a vital mistake when you took this position and took charge of this army," he informed him, walking forward, smile still in place. "An army of demons only obeys their Lord, and that just happens to be me." He turned his attention back to the demons still kneeling before him and ordered to rise, they did so immediately.

He extended one hand out towards the human who had the audacity to stand in _his_ place as Lord, wearing _his_ jewels and _his_ crown. "Kill him," he ordered calmly, and the demons about turned and sprung into action immediately. The weedy human who remained nameless to him did not even have the chance to scream.


	26. Daiyoukai can feel guilt

**They start to gain some more solid ground in a few chapters. This one is longer than the others have been too! So yeah, Sesshoumaru thinks she tried to commit suicide, that is what he views it as, of course, it was just a sacrifice. Do not forget to review!**

**Daiyoukai can feel guilt**

"OI! SESSHOUMARU!" Someone hit his face, not hard, but enough to sting slightly, and finally he was cut out of his stupor. He stopped staring into space, his eyes were no longer glazed over and he looked over at Hiten, the one who had struck him. "You've been staring into space for hours Sesshoumaru, what the hell is wrong? I've been trying to get through to you for like an hour now, but each time I called to you, you would not answer. You are the Lord of the West now, you have Lands to govern and get back under your control, and a war to win, and if she affects you like this you've got to get rid of her."

Sesshoumaru's normal reaction would have been to grab his neck and choke him within an inch of his life for suggesting such a thing. All he did though was shake his head the negative, no, no matter what happened he was not getting rid of her. He readied himself to shout at him again. Not liking how vacant his alpha looked one bit, but someone touched his shoulder to say no and he looked over his shoulder to see his brother retraining him. Of course, Manten was the only one he would allow to touch him so freely in such a manner.

"Leave him be for now brother, he is feeling guilty." Sesshoumaru registered those words although they were spoken to him and thought about them. His chest was tight, it hurt even thought there was no physical wound, but just thinking about what Kagome had done frightened and hurt him. Was it possible that it was guilt he was feeling, it seemed unlikely, but, this foreign feeling he had for so long considered himself immune to, was painful. It was guilt, he was feeling guilty because it was his fault she had tried to end her life, he had driven her to do it. But that was not quite it, she had not thought about dying, just saving her father – her pack.

"What do I do?" He asked suddenly, turning to the lizard looking youkai seeming as he knew what he was feeling. He was unaccustomed to asking for help, but he needed it, and there was no shame in asking assistance from your pack after all. He had hurt her, but somehow he knew time was not going to heal a wound, it never did, it was more like a concealer for the scar left behind. Keeping her bound and with a constant guard to make sure she did not try the same thing again would only prove to depress her further and further and actually want to end her life.

Manten was struck by the sudden request, unsure how to answer, but his Lord never looked away, piercing him with those amber eyes. "W-well," he stuttered, asking the turning cogs in his brain to whir faster so he could come up with a suitable reply. He eventually settled for the only thing he could answer with, he assumed that Sesshoumaru meant what he could do to regain the broken girl's favour seeming as he seemed for some unexplainable reason attached to the human. "You could try apologising to her," he said, hoping the outrageous suggestion would not get him killed, "or give her some more freedom."

"Daiyoukai do not apologise," Sesshoumaru asked really more than stated, seeming as his next comment was, "do you think it will work?" It would be enough to perhaps placate or shock hr for a minute or so but he doubted it would be enough to fully get her back. He had to mean it and not just say the word sorry, seeming as the miko would be able to tell, what is more, he has to act on it. He could not just say he was sorry and not do anything to change her position; he had to change things, but was it too late, the war was so heavily underway to just call off or change. And he needed to keep her safe, because he cared about her.

If he cared about her then it was really not acceptable he was treating her like a prisoner. But he needed her, and he did not know why, he did not understand the attachment, only that it was there. He swiftly stood up from where he was sitting by the fire, this time in a grate, and made his way over to the healing quarters where she had been tended to and finally. Kagome was still sitting in the exact position he had placed her earlier that morning on the bedding he had made for her after redressing her wound and changing her bandages.

After her life had been saved by professional healers who were still the same as when he was Lord last, he had insisted on taking over her healing. He was not sure why, maybe because he had simply told Naraku he would, and himself. Maybe it was because she was his responsibility and he had saved her all those other times. Maybe it was because it was his fault she was injured, no one knew, but he wanted to be the one to do it. She was holding her side which was now bandaged; she did not even look up when he came in.

It lasted a split second it could not have been more, but for that split second he was in her position. He felt the pain that she was feeling, both emotional and physical. He felt the frustration of her position and how much she hated what was happening. He felt the guilt she was feeling for releasing him and her sense of betrayal. He felt her diminishing hope of rescue, her fear of what he was going to do to her and fear of what was to come. Strangely enough he felt very little hate and anger, oh it was there alright, but it seemed that still now she understood why he was doing what he was, and while she did not accept, approve of or forgive him for it, she could understand. And maybe she was just the slightest bit grateful?

That split second of empathy scared him somewhat and he took a couple of steps backwards from the shock of it. The fact that he understood though was enough to make him beat down his pride enough for him to say what he needed to, and mean it at the same time which was a bonus. He summoned poison to his claws and slashed the metal binding her wrists, the chain falling to the floor in several pieces. She looked up when he did that and he saw she was still fighting, the fire had not left her eyes; he was strangely relieved by the fact.

He was sorry, he was truly sorry. But he could he say it?


	27. Daiyoukai can apologise

**Short drabble chapter again, Daiyoukai can apologise and so can I, so sorry. Anywho, please enjoy and review.**

**Daiyoukai can apologise**

Sesshoumaru and Kagome stared for a moment, wondering who was going to break the silence first and who was going to be the first to look away. Sesshoumaru took a deep breath as he steeled himself to say what he had to. "Thank you," Kagome said quickly and quietly, still looking him right in the eye, "for saving me, and looking after me these couple of days, tending to my wound and my sleeping and so on. You didn't need to do anything, but if you hadn't, I'd be dead on the battlefield right now, so thank you for bothering to care."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow not quite understanding why he was hearing what he was, "you do remember it was I who almost killed you," he clarified. And what was this talk about him not needing to, she was his, his responsibility. He had told her he was going to look after her, save her, and he being the culprit just made it all the more his responsibility. Of all the things she could be shouting at him, of all the things she should be shouting at him, accusing words of hate and pain, she had to choose to thank him, only a pure heart like Kagome would.

"This Sesshoumaru apologises," he said, blurting it out. One moment he was unable to say it at all, and then all of a sudden he was unable to hold it in any longer. He watched as her eyes grew wide with surprise and he knew what was coming next and held up his hand to cut her off before she started. "Yes I apologised to you, even Daiyoukai, even I can apologise, because it was my fault you were hurt so badly back in the battle, and I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, you meant to kill my father."

He couldn't deny that, so he left that comment without a reply.

"You apologised."

He nodded.

The smallest of smiles crept onto her face. "Thank you for that."

"You still should not have done what you did."

"You are the one who told me, wars require sacrifices."

His heart clenched as his own words were thrown back at him. Unsure of what to do, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an awkward embrace, "I am still glad you are O.K."


	28. Everybody

**This was inspired by Leon. To those of you who have seen the spectacular movie, you will appreciate this chapter more than those who have not. Still, it is easy to understand, I just do not want to take credit for the idea for the final lines of this drabble.**

**Everybody**

Naraku strode into the small building and brushed off everyone who stood in his way. Upon seeing him approach with the dark look of death on his face, people scurried out the way. They knew what this meant, his trip, his demon hunting trip had been unsuccessful, so it was best not to bring it up, let alone ask about it. The woman who was cooking meal for his men tonight looked at the soldiers and tears welled up in the eyes of the woman child who was usually so void and let her silver hair fall out of the braids that had been holding it up.

There were so few...at least those who were left were going to have a large meal, she had not expected so many to die, there were thirty left out of an original number of 200. There had been fights all over the country now, just from the rogue Daiyoukai and the demons following him. People had grown scared and run from their job, stopped signing up, setting their slaved free so they would not be killed when the Daiyoukai came for them. The army was now down from an original 10000 to 7000, in the space of a few mere months.

Most of those who were left were just boys really, children, and a few women who insisted. Naraku was the boss of the whole army, but the battalion that was now diminished to such a small number had been their best. "We need reinforcements," he said to her, meaning she was to ring the bell and gather people up to be the nest lot to go with him.

"How many?" She questioned.

"Bring me everybody," he told her.

She frowned, that was not an answer, did he mean 1000 men, 2000, how many did he want? Catching her questioning look he repeated himself, "Bring me _everybody."_

_7000 men._


	29. classification

**In which Kagome learns her place in the palace and Sesshoumaru's life. Please enjoy, and REVIEW! They get me excited.**

**Classification**

Kagome was slowly becoming accustomed to her new home. It was large, although she had yet to see the whole place. All she had seen of the palace was the recovery room as she sat there with bandages on her side and a pot of salve on the table near her. It had been like that for almost a week now, three times a day someone would come in with food and drink for her. Sometimes it was Jaken but it was usually Sesshoumaru, she was the person she saw the most of, it had been that way since the week before turning 15 though.

Right now she was having her bandages rewrapped, for some reason Sesshoumaru had been the person to insist upon doing that. He always talked to her while he did it, about what she was not sure, and neither did she care to listen. He always sat with her while she ate her meals and drank as well, sometimes he had some tea or sake for himself, but demons did not eat as much as humans needed to. He made sure she ate enough, and if she tried to eat less than half the food presented before her then he would not leave.

After the first time she refused to eat anymore when he prised her mouth open and forced mouthfuls of food down her, she learnt her lesson. Even if she was not hungry, or did not feel like eating due to thoughts about her father or just losing the will to continue looking after herself she still forced herself to. He took full care of her though, every evening he would take her to the hot springs and bathe her. After the first time of that too she learnt to stop struggling and protesting and just let him wash her.

He was not horrible to her, really, he was very gentle and didn't look at her inappropriately when he washed her or changed bandages that were close to a very private place of her. Now she was able to move a little more she started to wonder what her place was here. She had seen that lots of people were working her, either as healers, cooks, cleaners, chambermaids, personal servants – all sorts. She wondered what sector she would be assigned to, she could think of no other reason as to why he would keep her in such a nice place. She could clean and cook and even heal people if she needed to, but he never said anything.

Each day she waited for him to tell her what her job was, and every day he just gave her a meal or changed her bandages of applied more slave or bathed her and left. One day he told her that she was better now and could walk by herself. He then helped her walk around the palace showing her different areas, walking slowly to allow her to keep up, but still did not say what he wanted her to do. She caught a glimpse of silver hair and doggy ears and saw a boy her age staring at them with golden eyes. She opened her mouth to ask her host who he was and why he looked so similar, but when she looked again he was gone.

She figured he must be a brother or other close relative to Sesshoumaru seeming as they looked so similar and he dismissed it. Then one day she woke up in the healing quarters, and it had been exactly two weeks since she first awoke to find something attached to her neck. She was wearing a necklace, but it also was not a necklace, it was a thin silver chain with a blue crescent pendant on the end of it. It was a necklace, yet it was also, not a necklace, it was too custom made, it was too Sesshoumaru-like, until she realized that as nice as it was it was not a necklace at all. It was a collar, Kagome: classification: pet.

A day later she meant all that entailed.


	30. night fetish

**Ooooh, Kagome has warmed – for the better or the worse? Only time can tell. Please read and review!**

**Night fetish**

Something Kagome learnt quickly as her knew occupation as pet was that Sesshoumaru seemed to have a few peculiar... fetishes. She had no idea what being a pet truly entailed, but she had had no practice as such before and intended to continue being one presently for as short amount of time as possible. It was not a job prospect she had thought about before and so understandably had not bothered to pursue or research into it any further. Some of the things he wanted her to do though were awfully... questionable to say the least. She would indulge him for now, but if it continued to get worse she would put her foot down.

Night was the worse time of the 24 hours the Kamis gave to her every day. She had long grown accustomed to being in close proximity with him, but this was just plain ridiculous. He made her follow her around all day; he took her to the dining room where they would have their morning meal. Then he would take her to the study where he would work while she read (a rarity among most women), and from there he would usually go to the dojo. She would be forced to sit and watch sometimes for hours on end as he practised with demons from the army, or just by himself with his swords, either way it was boring.

She saw the silver hair and puppy ears young man again, looking at her curiously, or staring at Sesshoumaru adoringly. She had gotten the story off of Jaken who told her how he had come to battle for the West after the fall of his brother and ended up being captured. Fort twenty years he was tortured until Sesshoumaru finally claimed back his thrown and rescued him. Either he did not know anymore or he refused to tell her. Sesshoumaru himself did not actually pay him much mind, simply waiting for him to come out of his shell. Either way he did not invite him over, and brushed right past him without a word, ignoring him. Forced to follow him the way she was too, Kagome never got much of a chance to talk to him either.

When evening drew near she followed him to his room and when he kept the door open instead of closing it on her she followed him inside as well. It was an elaborate room, but he didn't seem to notice, casually slinging his armour down in a corner of the room, and changing into a sleeping yukatas right in front of her. Thankfully he did not take long over it and Kagome waited patiently to be shown to her room which she no doubted would be an adjoining one, something the other side of the palace was probably too much to hope for. However, all he did was ignore her and he went to bed as if he had forgotten her presence.

Confused but slightly amused as well she made her way to the door, only to find out it had been locked. She swept the room with her eyes to find that there was no door leading to an adjacent one, only to a walk in closet or a private hot springs. Looking back to the bed she saw Sesshoumaru had still not fallen asleep and the covers were still no pulled up over him. He cocked an eyebrow at her as if daring her to disobey him; he had pulled the same face when she thought she would enjoy seeing a different place than where he was.

It then became clear what it was he wanted her to do.

She was annoyed but found that not only was she not entirely surprised, but seeming as they were both dressed, didn't mind it all that much. Maybe it was because she was used to being in close contact with him, seeming as he had carried her on his back every day and they had shared a shelter when on the road, it was practical to tolerate him. Maybe it was because she felt more comfortable in such contact with him too; it was true he had won some respect by tending to her. It was his fault she was injured in the first place but at least he had taken responsibility and nursed her back to health to rectify his mistake.

His arms snaked around her waist and pulled her form under his chin, drawing her to his chest. There in her half asleep state she snuggled up to him and fell asleep. She would live with it for now because she was tired, she would get him back for it at a later date though. She was not sure how to do this yet seeming as he held all the upper hands, but she was sure she would be able to think of something she could do to annoy him. Hurting herself just to frustrate him seemed a step too far and if she was disobedient he was just amused and forced her to do what he wanted her to anyway. Sleep now, thinking in the morning.


	31. Wanting to know you

**Awww, I love the interaction in this chapter, it is kind of Inu/Kag, but not really... yeah I have confused myself. Anywho, please review and enjoy. **

**Wanting to know you**

Kagome was bored, not a rare occurrence since the start of her new life. She had little purpose here, and nothing to do, it was very dull. Her eyes drifted to the hanyou as he sat in the study fiddling with a book, but not really reading it, or intending to. She had seen him around a lot, usually somewhere near Sesshoumaru at all times, like her, but he did it out of choice. She was currently seated at Sesshoumaru's feet, not really doing anything and he did not seem to notice her at all so she decided to make her way over to the puppy eared hanyou. He intrigued her in a way she could not control and was overtaken by the urge to know him.

Who was this reclusive boy who everyone claimed to know but could tell her no more than his name? She knew every servant and honoured guest of the castle, but mystery surrounded this quiet boy, he was silent, but granted full access to everywhere, he was tormented. She came to that conclusion as soon as she looked into those eyes, he seemed to have reverted to the state of a child, but then again she did not know him, she was not to know if he ever left it. Again she wanted, needed to know who he was, who Inuyasha was. She did not just want to know his name, that held little meaning, she wanted to know him.

He always kept to himself but he had warm sides, at least, he was never openly nasty to anyone, not that she had seen. She had caught him staring at her with those golden eyes before now in the days he had spent here, out of curiosity or hate or something else, she did not know. Nobody seemed to want to have anything to do with him, all she knew was that he was called Inuyasha, was Sesshoumaru's brother and had been tortured by humans. Maybe that was why he ignored her, it seemed to be the kindest thing he could do for her, maybe he was scared he would be cruel to her without meaning to be, resulting in death at the hands of his brother. Scared... could it be that he was actually scared of her? It made sense; Sesshoumaru had had a similar reaction when they first met, and paying her respect in the ways he had in that learned way of his.

She shuffled right up to him and waited for him to acknowledge her, which he did eventually and somewhat reluctantly. Sesshoumaru paid them no notice and just carried on with whatever paperwork he needed to do. "Hello Inuyasha," she said, greeting him with her most stunning smile, "my name is Kagome." Introductions she had learnt were always a good ice breaker, and smiles and a warm nature always helped, especially when you are dealing with a shy person with a touch shell. He did nothing but blink his golden eyes at her with no emotion on his face at all, he remained impassive and dismissive, he said 'I know' before returning to his fiddling.

"You do not have to be so rude you know," she said, not really reprimanding him, but not liking the way he spoke to her. He did not look up at her again so she carried on speaking; knowing that even if he was not listening to her, he could not help but hear. "I am only trying to be nice to you and make friends," she reasoned, trying to get a response out of him. Even an angry one would be good; he was just so closed off and... insecure? She was not sure if that was the word she wanted. She wanted to know him, because she saw him every day and all he did was sit there.

It seemed to her that it was not that he kept away and hid from people, he just did not make the effort. People said he was impossible to understand and kept everyone at arm's length. She was tempted to agree, but had anyone actually given him a chance before jumping to those conclusions? Maybe he did keep to himself, but had anyone actually ever tried to get to know him? She knew nobody had made the effort, so really it was no surprise. Well she was not like everyone else to jump to negative conclusions about him without trying to be friends. She was going to be the first.

Suddenly his head snapped up and anger entered his eyes, "I seriously doubt that," he snapped, his voice quiet, but vicious. "Humans are disgusting lowlifes; they do nothing but prey on others, even their own kind, for no reason. They demand to be paid respect not owed to them, and to be praised for work not their own." He looked like he wanted to go on, but bit his tongue to keep the words at bay. He turned away from her, breaking eye contact, ashamed and for some reason remaining unknown he looked on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry," he said, also suddenly and just as quietly, turning his whole body away from her completely.

"Inuyasha?" She asked confused, wanting more than anything to reach out and touch his shoulder or something. She wanted to comfort him in some way, to let him know she was not hurt by his words, he understood why he would be like that, and it was the same for the demons who tried to kill her by throwing her off a cliff. She could not bring herself to hold it against them, and he had done one better and apologised for his actions. This showed he was different; she wanted to know him, be his friend, because right now he had nobody, this was clear in the way he was always by himself, and in the way the only thing people could, or at least would tell her about him was his name.

Pained golden eyes met hers for a fraction of a second, and her heart lurched at the sight of them. The moment was over way too soon and he once again returned to looking at his lap. "My words were uncalled for," he admitted, and she was aware he meant his apology, "I am sorry. Please, just leave me alone, I do not want to hurt you, and I will if you stay, accidentally of course. It is a reflex, the humans. No mercy." His speech was broken into simple almost comprehendible pieces, he did not wish to hurt her, but he may do accidentally on reflex if she stayed near him because he had been conditioned to feel no mercy for them, like they showed none to him.

Her own eyes showed pain for him and he glanced up again to see this, confusion clouding his face as to why she was showing hurt to him. She shuffled back half a pace, not far enough to be out of harm's way, but fare enough to show she respected his wishes. She wanted to tell him that it was all O.K and he did not have to fear or hate her. "I understand Inuyasha," she said, and that was all she got to say for Sesshoumaru who she had managed to forget while she interacted with the reclusive boy intervened and had them part. Maybe it was because he did not want Inuyasha to hurt her, maybe he had just not been paying attention, was ready to leave and wanted his pet to follow him like he ordered he follow her everywhere.

He swept out the room with an order for her to come, she found herself obeying now seeming as being dragged around everywhere was uncomfortable and meaningless hassle for everyone involved. She would be able to talk with him again though, she would make sure of it, and it really would be a little more like a conversation next time. She gave him a small smile before leaving the room, the door shut before she could turn around to see him again. He did not return the smile; the expression was a new one for him he had not used it for so long, over twenty years in fact. However at the sight of the girl his eyes softened and the shell began to crack.


	32. To hate you

**Another uber short one – sorry, please review. Ooooh, Kagome is so confused...**

**To hate you**

She didn't like Sesshoumaru.

It was pretty hard to like someone who pretended to be your friend and then betrayed you. She found it hard to forgive one who treated her like a prisoner, then a possession and then a pet. And yet, she did not quite curse his name either. Maybe it was him tending to her when she was injured that made her follow him around like the dog he wanted her to be. Maybe it was the fact that he said he was glad she was O.K. maybe it was because he licked the rashes on her wrists or threw himself over the edge of a cliff to catch her and save her life.

No she didn't like him because he killed countless people, torturing them, making her watch in some cases like with Kagura. It was because he had betrayed her as a friend and refused to find level ground with her. It was because he had forced Shippou away from her and made her entirely dependent upon him. It was because he was in search of supreme conquest and went on a killing spree of humans, and she was a miko, she despised war and the bloodshed. She did not like him because he had tried to kill her father and very badly injured her in the process. She still could not help but think him misunderstood instead of evil.

He had done a lot of wrong in his life, but he had shown her nicer sides of his character as well. he genuinely care for her, and his brother for example. She looked at his back as she followed him, not sure where they were going but too caught up in her own thoughts to much care. She didn't like him, but try as she might, and as hard as she thought of all the encounters with him she could not quite bring herself to quite hate him either.


	33. Naraku's training

**So Naraku has not given up, and he cares about his men – sort of, though he knows some will die, this is a war after all and sacrifices have to be made. Sorry for taking so long to update I had a lot of uni stuff to sort out including accommodation.**

**Training the troops**

Naraku has all of his seven thousand soldiers gathered before him. Now he needs to separate the elites from the amateurs. He was entering a serious battle here and he did not want the only army there was that was willing to fight demons to die in this one battle. But it was a fight that needed to be fought, and won too, but he would come to that – that was what training sessions like this were for. He has set out a huge obstacle course that runs for hundreds of metres in all directions. Set out like a square, in the right third is an obstacle course, and there's an identical one in the left third, that leaves the middle empty, it was the perfect setting, the time it had taken to erect was worth it.

Only two people enter at any one time. They each enter one of the courses, and once they reach the middle they have duel each other. The person who get to the middle first and least injured of course gets an advantage. They are given blunt weapons, not wooden, wooden weapons are snapped and broken to easily even to spar with, which are located in the middle segment, so getting there first is a great advantage. Each weapon is placed next to one of the obstacle courses, if one person is very slow, then their opponent will have enough time to grab both weapons.

"GO!" Shouts Naraku, and two of his applicants rush into the beginning of their course. The first challenge is to run in and out of wooden poles. If anyone cheats, then they have to join the back of the queue. He watches them as they continue to complete the course, both are head on head, as far as he can tell, he's standing near the middle. On to the next challenge, this one involves walking across a narrow log, while avoiding swinging weights. It takes balance, agility and skill, it's made harder by being placed after a running challenge. If anyone was to fall off, they have to start that part of the obstacle course again. It was tough, but so was war and certain skills are needed.

The two contestants reach the centre one after the other. No one has any advantage over the other in this round. The two soldiers grab their weapons and charge at each other. The aim of this combat is not to injure the opponent. The weapons are blunt, but not soft; the opponents will get hurt, but not injured. So the trick is to disarm your opponent, and then they should yield after a hit. So no one gets injured, they will be able to fight another day, and the most skilled is victorious.

After a few minutes one of the soldiers submits. Great, thinks Naraku. Two through, just six thousand nine hundred and ninety eight to go. The winner of each duel will go on to the next round. The next round will be the same thing. So after every round, the number left will be halved. After two rounds Naraku will pair of his remaining soldiers in duels, until he finds the seven hundred elite, each will be given one hundred men, to train and lead. It will take time, but the war will have to be won slowly, he will definitely lose if he was to run into that Daiyoukai with untrained soldiers and low numbers like last time, he would be returning again with even less men.

"GO!" Shouts Naraku. The next two run into the square. Naraku has three other squares like this one. He has several other instructors as well. At this rate, two rounds will have passed in six days. In just over a week he'll have his seven hundred. He'll allow time for anyone to challenge the seven hundred, until he is sure he has the best of the best. As he watches the two opponents, he smiles. This is going quick, he thinks. They'll keep this training day and night, not for the same people of course. Soon he'll have his army of seven thousand soldiers. Not amateurs, no. He'll have well trained soldiers. One can't win with numbers alone; one needs skill, that's why he's training them. So he'll have both.


	34. Not all humans

**More cute Inu/Kag – hope nobody minds.**

**Not all humans**

They were in the dojo, well Sesshoumaru was, and Kagome was in the stands watching. There was not much else she could do; it was not like she was going to be doing any fighting. He came to this particular place in his palace at least every other day, and it had been a month or thereabouts now, maybe a lot more... she did not know. One thing about captivity Kagome had learnt was that you lose sense of time and the date, it gets light, you eat at various points and it gets dark. She did not go outside every day so she did not always see the sky and therefore the sun, so she did always have an idea of the time of day.

She wished at times like these when he went to practise that she was allowed to leave and go explore on her own. She doubted however that he would allow her to do that, last time she had tried to leave without him he had appeared in her path. It was like he materialised out of thin air into her path and grabbed the collar of her kimono. The drag back to the dojo had been awfully uncomfortable if not painful and embarrassing; the glare he shot her afterwards too was enough to make her sit down obediently with a bowed head. She later learnt this was for her safety too, not all the demons in the castle were able to overlook her humanity and accept her presence, Sesshoumaru was needed to protect her wherever she was.

She looked around for something to entertain herself with. After a little while she spotted long silver hair and puppy dog ears so she made her way over to them. "Hello Inuyasha," she greeted cheerfully sitting down beside him. She startled him so much he flew two feet into the air though he made not a sound. He stared at her with those wide golden eyes, still without making a word and his ears slanted forward adorably in attention. He nodded to acknowledge her presence and to accept her sitting so close to him while he was still wary of humans, Kagome considered this a privilege. His head turned back towards his brother.

"You really admire him don't you?" She said, seeing how his eyes followed every single movement, not missing a single stroke or step. She got a nodded reply, it was an answer, not verbalized, he did not even turn to her, but he was listening, so she continued on. His hands were twitching almost as if he wanted to be down there himself, he was Sesshoumaru's brother, so he must be good. "Can you fight too?" She was sure the answer was affirmative, and she was right, she got a nod, but there seemed to be pain in his golden eyes.

"Why don't you then..." she mused to herself rather than asked him as she watched him and he watched the dojo. Then suddenly an idea came to her, "the humans," she only whispered it, but the sensitive ears caught it anyway. He had been treated horribly by her kind, beaten, locked in a cell, starved, and made to fear weapons of any sort. He had been conditioned in those twenty years of torture to hate violence and could not hold a weapon anymore. It was a truly horrible thing to do to a warrior, for that is what Inuyasha once was she was sure of it. By the way Inuyasha's head snapped to meet her with wide pain filled golden eyes upon hearing her words; Kagome bet she had hit the nail right over the head.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled finally, softly and got up to leave, perhaps he just could not stand being with a human any longer. Kagome did not know what she was doing, it was stupid and crazy and unnecessary, she should have let him be, and he needed space. But she just could not let him go with that pain in his eyes, what he needed was comfort, even if he did not know it, or even want it. She leapt forward and reached out to grab onto his red sleeve to stop him from leaving, "please don't run away!" She called to him.

He had no choice but to stop and turn back to her. "I am sorry about what the other humans did, really, I am, and it was a horrible ordeal no one should have to go through. But please, you must trust me when I assure you that not all humans are like that, some of us are good people. I am a good person, I am not going to hurt you, I care for you, and I want to help you, to protect you, to be your friend. You have got to let go of what they did to you, I promise that things are going to get a lot better now, you are going to be O.K, we all are."

She pulled him back to her, "so please let us be friends. I want to stand by your side if you will stand by mine, and we can be together in this. You do not have to hide behind a mask of stone and stay silent in case you will scream. It is O.K to feel pain as well you know, and for it to cause you to cry, tears are nothing to be ashamed of anything." He still was not saying anything, but he was not trying to pull away either so Kagome did the last think she could think of. "Inuyasha," she gasped as she pulled him to her and wrapped her arms around him.

Immediately his arms came up and wrapped around her in response and he buried his face into the crook of her neck. From that moment onwards h never left her side, Sesshoumaru did not seem to care,in fact he was slightly pleased. Seeming as he was extra protection Kagome was allowed to go around without the Taiyoukai and just took Inuyasha. People had been trying to help Inuyasha for weeks and so paid her respect for managing it. He was getting better every day, talking more, smiling, training when thought no one could see him, Kagome always managed to be there. The days at the castle, became much more enjoyable.


	35. Return of the Fox

**I love Shippou and I want to show how Sesshoumaru is not as evil as I have made him out to be thus far, they do gain common ground – well they have – romance is to follow.**

**Return of the fox**

"KAGOME!" Shouted a familiar voice and the teenage girl turned around just in time to catch a furry orange ball of fluff as it launched itself into her waiting arms. "I've missed you so much," Shippou whimpered, but with a smile as they rubbed noses like they always used to. "I have so much to tell you," he carried on, not letting her have a word in edgeways, but she decided she did not need to say anything at all. She wanted to ask him where he was and how he has been, what has happened and all the other questions a concerned mother would want to ask her newly returned pup after they had spent quite a while apart.

However seeming as Shippou had been her son for a while now she knew him inside out. If he was anything like he used to be, and hopefully he had no changed then he would answer all those questions in the torrent of speech about to pour forth. How he managed to speak so fast and hold so much breath never ceased to amaze her. She sat down and paced the little kit in her lap just as the talking spewed forth. It was comprehendible, just, with the speed in which he spoke it proved a challenge of course. But that was how Shippou always was and she never wanted him to change, because he was her kit, her Shippou.

"I have been in the neutral village because Sesshoumaru said it would be safe for me there, I should not be in a warzone because I am just a kit, and he did not want me to get hurt," Shippou began at a million words a minute. "Then I went so see Keade and she gave me some soup and let me stay with her and then I showed her all of my fox magic and she told me I was really, really good! Then all of a sudden I heard about Sesshoumaru getting his Lands back so I thought it was safe for me to come back so I started to come back to you."

Shippou had to stop quite suddenly to catch his breath seeming as he had all of a sudden run out of puff. He took several long deep breaths to chase the blue out of his face and then started up again at the same speed. "I didn't go about trying to alert you of my arrival because I wanted it to be a surprise but I came across Sesshoumaru before I came across you. I was in the form of a rabbit and this big man grabbed me by the ears and he wanted to cook me and I was so scared but then suddenly Sesshoumaru came out of nowhere and cut the man's wrist off so he could carry me to safety I was so frozen in fear."

The way he could talk so fast without stumbling over his words was nothing short of awe inspiring to the girl. "I was not even sure how Sesshoumaru recognized me at first, but I guess he could still smell me and he must have done from quite far off too because I was not exactly right next to here. I showed him my fox magic too, and he told me I was really good for my age too, practically a warrior already, and in a few years he is going to start tutoring me in fighting himself so I will be as good as he is! Then he brought me to you!"

He jumped onto her shoulder from her lap and started nattering in her ear on and on about his adventures without her, or anybody really. Kagome was distracted and not really interested in what else he had to say, she did love him, but it was what he had said before. Sesshoumaru had saved his life, not only that, but had gone out of his way to save his life too, because he was pack. And he had not killed the man who threatened him either, cut his hand off, but he would probably survive it if he reacted to the wound and dealt with it quickly enough.

He did not have to save him, but he had done so anyway, because he wanted to, because he truly cared a little for the kit. Inuyasha had been a silent observer the entire time, he was still a very quiet boy and Shippou had not even noticed him yet. Sesshoumaru came into the room they were sitting in and Kagome looked up at him with a smile. He did have care in him after all; she was being shown yet another, softer, side of this conundrum of a Daiyoukai. He had brought Shippou to her without asking for anything in return. He did not gloat about how she should be thankful for saving him, he just did it... he did not even say.

"Shut up," Inuyasha ordered, lightly hitting his orange head as he left the room for another one of his 'secret' training bouts. "You talk too fucking much," and Kagome agreed, although not out loud, and it must grate on the nerves of someone like Inuyasha even more than her. She loved Shippou, knew what he was like and was glad to see him and hear from him again. But Inuyasha was a stranger and he was normally so silent, maybe he had been punished for speaking by the humans and still did not say all that much. So many words being thrown around, most of all them not even needed must have really got on his nerves.

Her thoughts once more turned back to Sesshoumaru. He didn't even say...


	36. Wishing goodnight Sesshoumaru style

**Yeah, sort of the same as the next instalment of 'Pure of heart', but I wanted them to have more interaction of a pleasant nature.**

**Wishing goodnight Sesshoumaru style**

Kagome sat at the table to Sesshoumaru's left, looking at the remnants of her meal. Today it had been a herby tomato soup with bread followed by fish covered by a salty crumb with vegetables. There was a bowl of fruit on the table and she watched in amazement as it was all placed before her as if they expected her to consume it all. She was never one to disappoint, but there was simply too much and the demons she was dining with did not eat as much as humans had to, so a lot of it unfortunately ended up going to waste.

There was music playing after dinner, and Kagome found herself mindlessly nodding her head along to it. Some of the demons paired off and started to dance to the music, soon enough she was the only one left sitting there and even Inuyasha had gone. Usually he would loath to leave her side but he had decided to break tradition. She wanted to leave as well but without Inuyasha as an escort she had to wait until the Daiyoukai was done and ready to leave. Then suddenly while she was looking at the floor she realized the brown wooden floor had been replaced by white shoes, looking up she saw it was followed by white hakamas a haori and a familiar face with magenta stripes and a blue crescent moon in the middle of his forehead.

He extended one pale hand out to her; she looked at it for a moment before realizing he wanted her to take it. She took it before realizing she had complied and he pulled her roughly to her feet and tugging her to the middle of the floor. He wrapped his arms around her; one around her waist and the other took her hand and held it. "Dance with me," he said and twirled her around once, "you like the song don't you, I saw you tapping out the beat." He led the dance very well, it hardly seemed to matter she was ignorant of how to do so.

She ended up smiling as she whisked around the dance floor. He made jokes and she ended up laughing at them, and she chatted back to him. She enjoyed that evening; she had never had such a simple and enjoyable time with him. She forgot all about the troubles she had gone through and the blood he had spilt, she just wanted a simple time like this to last forever. He walked her to her room after that dance and the next which he also danced with her ended; he had now decided to grant her with a room that adjoined his own instead of have her share his.

She was only a human and not fully grown yet, he remembered that and let her go to bed even if he was not ready to go yet. He wished her goodnight and was about to leave when he suddenly grasped her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. And that was it; he smiled, turned around and headed back downstairs to where the dancing was going on.


	37. 16 tea lights

**Sorry to darken the mood with a more morbid chapter but I think she would be experiencing a bit of homesickness by now.**

**16 tea lights**

It was midnight, Kagome lay awake in her bed staring at the ceiling and watching the flickering flames of the sixteen tea lights in her room. An awful lot had happened this year, and most of it had been unfortunate, and her fault. Blood had been shed and she had been... well she did not like her position even now seeming as it was still captive – but it was better than it was before. She was alive after all, and that was all that mattered for now in the big scheme of things. As long as there was breath in her body she was able to continue to fight, and fight she would for the equality she had been dreaming of ever since she was a small child.

Her relationship with Sesshoumaru had improved as of late, ever since that evening about a week ago since he kissed her. It was still fresh in her mind, she had thoughts she was like a pet to him, and people did not kiss their pets, not on the lips like he had. The occurrence made her rethink her current position. She wanted her family, she had never really had a good relationship with her mother, but she wanted her anyway to tell her what was going on and how to deal with it. She wanted her brother to spill everything to and help up, because being a pillar of strength for other people helped her to be strong too.

She wanted her father there to hold her ion his arms and assure her everything was going to be fine. Her father had always been the one to look after her and always loved her more than everyone else on the planet, even Souta, as horrible as it was to think it, but it was the truth. She missed him more today than he had ever missed anyone, because she knew that he was out there fighting for her. He had been away for a couple of months at a time before, but he always made sure to came back for today. But nobody was here for her today, she was all alone, and she hated to be alone, she realized that the day she got Sesshoumaru.

The day she had Sesshoumaru she was not alone anymore and realized she just tolerated being alone because that was how her life had turned out. When she got him she realized she did not have to be, and from that moment forward she never had been. She could not sleep this night away like all the others, because she felt so alone in the world, and when the morning came it would be better, but until then she would wait. She thought about all the events that had happened this year until the clock in her room struck one o clock, distracting her from her memories thus snapping her out of her reverie of thought.

If she tried really hard she could imagine a grand banquet and all of her family was here to share it with her along with her friends. There was a big cake like the one that Shippou had wanted back at home with candles in it. She leant forward and blew all the tea lights out before lying back down in bed against the soft covers and plumped up pillows. "Happy Birthday Kagome," she muttered to herself before her eyelids dropped shut.

No one even knew


	38. A fight is in the air

**So, things get interesting**

**A fight is in the air**

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Said Daiyoukai stopped in his tracks and turned to see Kouga running up to him. The wolf had recently decided to spend time at his castle despite having his own pack to run, he wanted to spend some time serving him to say thank you for leading him and all youkai to victory. He did not wish for the wolf to serve him as a lieutenant in any way, he was just another room to prepare and mouth to feed. However, he had decided not to tarnish the cub's honour, for he was little more than a cub and treat him as a guest. It was times like these that Sesshoumaru was reminded that his decisions were always right.

Kouga had speed, it was his only strong point and it exceeded even his own, and making use of this he had sent the wolf prince out about noon to patrol the borders of his lands. If there were no problems that needed to be dealt with, or minor inconveniences that the wolf himself could handle, then he still should not be back until this evening. It was only early afternoon, Kouga could not have been gone for more than three hours and here he was already running back. This could mean only one thing, something was wrong in his lands.

His wolf's eyes were wide and wild, he was scared, another strong point of his was how fearless he was, if he was scared, they must all be in big trouble. There was something in the air with the wolf's return that grated his nerves, it angered him and excited him at the same time. He had felt it before, like an alarm bell ringing, the wolf showed it on his face, it was a giveaway. There was a fight approaching in one way or another, he was sure of it, he could practically smell it. "There is an army on their way to the Western fortress!" He exclaimed, "skilled ranks an army at least five thousand strong, I didn't hang around to count, they are under the lead of Naraku."

Sesshoumaru did not say anything but made his way to the genera's quarters. So Naraku had returned to do battle with him and brought a proper army along this time. He did not know whether it was his daughter he wanted or his kingdom, maybe he wanted both, but he did not know which one was priority to him. None of that mattered either; he was not going to let that measly human or any of his soldiers take what was rightfully his. The western Lands were his Lands, and Kagome was his human, not Naraku's, not anymore. He had come with an army, it was a fight he wanted, and so a fight is what he was going to receive.


	39. Daiyoukai do not cry

**Wow... this made me cry, 'cause I'm a human.**

**Daiyoukai do not cry**

The battle was rough, Sesshoumaru and his army had never seen such skilled humans before and they had encountered demon slayers before. Nothing compared to the sheer strength and skill, and blood thirst of the humans they faced. They were demons, bred to be ruthless, and when you are a youkai fighter you need to be tough and not be afraid to do anything. They used all the dirty tricks in the book, slashing at feet and calves so they can't run away, destroying weapons, targeting the elites, but they were just so good.

Naraku was notorious for being a good fighter, his speciality was demons and soon enough it became clear the only one who was going to be able to face him was Sesshoumaru himself. Something in his chest broke each time another demon fell, but there were so many humans, seven thousand, and unlike most times, they were actually working together well. They fired nets over two or three demons at a time, killing them using poisonous fumes and miasma. Although given most of his army were strong enough to resist them, it was still a distraction and inconvenience, and once you are distracted in battle you are as good as dead.

The Daiyoukai charged into battle with more vigour than he knew he had when he saw Kagome on the battlefield. He did not know how she had gotten out of the palace, though he was aware Inuyasha who usually watched over her was going through a particularly difficult time, he doubted he would ever recover fully. Shippou was the only one protecting her, and he was doing a spectacular job of it, using his tricks and toys and ward humans back from them. He transformed into different threatening animals and monsters, too small and young to be threatening in his real form and too frightened to attack.

He could not expect more from the pup and found the strength to bat humans away to get to them. He felt no more than a sting when an arrow was embedded in his shoulder, he yanked it out again, it was no matter, that wound would heal in a matter of minutes, well, a minute really to be precise. He almost made it to them when a human crossed his path and with surprising strength grabbed his shoulders and pushed him forcefully back. He stumbled but did not fall, "Naraku," he growled darkly at the human and he smirked in response.

"You are not going anywhere demon," Naraku breathed at him quietly in his overconfident voice, "I am killing you today." He sounded so sure of himself, but he was going to be the one to die, but he would put up a good fight. He did not have the time to fight Naraku, Kagome was in danger, Shippou was in danger, because Kagome would not abandon him and Shippou was the demon they were after. Naraku swung a sword at him and he tried to dodge around it to get away and deal with him later, but Naraku was too fast with another swing.

He engaged in combat, using his poisonous whip and he was forced further and further away from Kagome, at least Kouga ad gotten to her by this point. With seven thousand human soldiers and about ten thousand demons fighting, they covered a great many miles and they all had amazing stamina. Within half an hour he found himself five miles away from his human and unable to get closer; each time he tried he was forced further away. "You need to stop this Naraku; your human army is attacking your daughter, let me get her to safety."

"You talk about her as if you really care, but you are a demon, and Daiyoukai such as you do not have hearts," he snarled as if saying such things was a crime. He found himself pushed yet further away from her, and the stench of blood and death permeated the air so badly he could no longer smell her or the demons protecting her. Seeming as he was a dog demon, not being able to smell was like being blind, and seeming as he was too far away to see her or hear her too, it sent his worry for her safety and wellbeing into overdrive.

"I refuse to allow my daughter to become the plaything of a demon like you. If I am going to lose this battle," he said, nursing a wound on his own shoulder which took less time to heal him being a human, "I will take her down with me." He seemed to realize that there was a chance e could lose this battle after all, but his declaration that e would allow his daughter to die, even kill her – it set a rage into him. To be truthful he could see things from his point of view, but he was different from before, last time when she had almost died for him he let him take her to be tended. He could have killed her, one quick stab, it was obvious she was going to be his once he took her, but he did not, he let him take her to save her, Naraku was different, more crazed.

"Could you kill your own daughter?" He challenged, hoping he was bluffing. "I couldn't do it, and I am, as you say, a heartless Daiyoukai, I could not kill members of my own pack. If you could, you are more of a demon than I could ever hope to be." Naraku drew a second katana seemingly out of nowhere and engaged him in more serious combat, blocking is whip with level strikes. His face was contorted with rage and hate, it seemed the deaths of his human army was getting through to him like the deaths of the demons was getting to Sesshoumaru. Both started fighting with more ferocity, they were talking about a sensitive subject for both of them.

"I'd be saving her from a fate worse than death;" Naraku answered eventually, "killing her would be a blessing!"

"How do you know she does not enjoy her time in the Western castle? She has pack members there, protectors, food, shelter, riches, death is the end."

"She has never cared for luxuries."

"What about friends?"

"She will meet them again in the afterlife; you will burn in hell where you can no longer reach her."

"I will not allow you to harm her."

"I don't need to; I have seven thousand other men to do the job for me."

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened as he remembered she was being closed in on. He formed his ki cloud and jumped up high, flying back over the battle field searching for her. There were so many dead bodies around, demon and human he could not find her, but he did find the dying body of someone else. "No," he whispered as he landed beside the dying body of a friend who had stood by him for a long time, Hiten, his comrade for decades, a warrior. He was completely battered, blood pouring out of him, he could not be saved, he had but minute left.

He lifted his head and cradled it in his lap so his passing moments would e more comfortable. "Hiten," he whispered, knowing he could hear, "I'm so sorry my friend, it was not meant to turn out this way, I didn't know they would be so skilled, I am so sorry." His stoic mask had cracked, his human was in danger, possibly dead and his best friend was dying in his arms. Daiyoukai do not cry, he had learnt that as a child by his father, it was best if you hide your emotions so enemies do not think you are weak. Daiyoukai do not cry, they wear a mask of stone and is their feelings behind it, they don't cry but they come pretty damn close.

"It's alright Sesshoumaru; I did what I needed to. I killed the ones who killed Manten, I got revenge for my brother," he choked out, coughing up some blood. "Win it for me O.K, I've lived a good life, it was free, and I died in battle as a warrior under you, so I am ready to go." He winced as his wounds caused him agony. "Kami, dying hurts Sesshoumaru, I don't recommend it, I have one last favour, I am sorry to be a coward, but it could take an hour for death to take hold..." he did not need to say anymore. With tears in his eyes, but not yet falling Sesshoumaru nodded, took his friend's head in his hands, kissed his brow and snapped the neck.

Hiten died instantly, his eyes glassed over and his head rolled back, dead, he was dead. Sesshoumaru started to shake uncontrollably and then unable to contain it he pointed his mouth to the sky and howled for all he was worth because he could not cry. The demons heard him howl and howled too, this confused the humans giving them the upper hand. Hiten' skin grew cold against his leg and his eyes bled red, and with a growl his inner beast came charging forth and he transformed into the five storey dog he had the potential to be. He was angry and out for blood, he bounded in and out of humans and demons to find his human.

He tramped humans under his feet; the demons were wise enough to keep out of the way. All the pain and rage from the twenty years he had been in captivity was let loose. He swallowed humans whole and crunched them in his teeth, savouring the blood that spurted into his mouth. His beast was still tortured, but was channelling it into anger now and the humans were going to pay. His red eye sought out Naraku before they found Kagome. He picked her and Shippou up in his teeth carefully and set them down on a hill away from the action. With a snarl to stay put he leapt forward with a roar to face Naraku.

That man was dead.


	40. The Warrior's ultimate sacrifice

**Sorry for making you wait, a few people are still following it. But at least you get a longer one this time, I tried to make it heart wrenching like the last chapter.**

**The Warrior's ultimate sacrifice**

The massive dog loomed over Naraku and he grinned he saw slight traces of fear in his eyes, good, he should be afraid of him. He was a valiant fighter, and he battled the giant dog as well as he could, slashing at him with his sword, but they hurt no more than slight pinpricks to his massive form. The only problem with being this size was that you enemies are awfully small and can evade you easily. He batted at him and swatted him with his paw, but for the most part, while he had Naraku running and unable to retaliate, he was not getting any strikes in.

Then all of a sudden he knocked him to the floor with his tail and then trod on his legs. The scream of pain was agonizing even to his ears and he was the one who inflicted the injury. He was not usually the one to cause unnecessary pain in killing, but Naraku threatened Kagome and that was just unacceptable, he was just as despicable as Kagura and deserved no mercy. Crushing his legs while was down may have been a bit of a barbaric move, but he was an angry Daiyoukai in his true form and in the height of battle.

This man threatened his human, was a threat and an enemy to all youkai, had killed his men, and led the ones who killed Hiten, led the ones who tortured his brother. He did not know the meaning of the word mercy himself so there was no way in the seven hells he was going to be shown it. He wanted to feel his blood drip down his threat, coat his mouth, dry in between his claws. With Naraku on the ground, still screaming pain of having the bones in both of his legs shattered, with a blast of his youki he transformed back into his human form.

He stood over him threateningly, every inch the Lord he never stopped being, a warlord about to pass judgement. "Now you can no longer run from me," he breathed quietly, darkly "let me show you how I dispose your kind." He placed his foot on his chest, pinning him to ground, and brought his sword down slowly between his eyes. What he had not counted on was for Naraku to know witchcraft, and he used the last of his energy to shoot a powerful blast of energy at him, ultimately ending his own life, some just can't lose.

He must have had more energy than he originally thought and here Sesshoumaru had thought he had beaten him down. Apparently for a human those specific weapon shots of fire took time and a lot of energy to conjure. After all, he was not youkai, he did not possess any powers, and such shots needed to be done by weapons either forged by youkai fang or reinforced by witchcraft. They were massive; and they were deadly to everything they came in to contact with. What is more, once being shot they cannot be taken away or destroyed, by the ones who shot it or another, using any means, and they held a lot of power.

It seemed strange that he would waste what must have been all of his remaining energy just to have the last word or the last shot. Surely he would choose to keep the energy so he would heal faster or so he could escape. Sure, Naraku was ignorant, stubborn, evil of course, mocking, patronizing and sarcastic. He was a good fighter, a leader, a strategist and a survivor, yet he had chosen to use his own life energy to fire one last shot. The only reason Sesshoumaru could think for that was because before it all, he was a winner, and he died before being defeated. Naraku was a lot of things, most of them detestable, but one thing he certainly was not, was stupid.

Sesshoumaru had lightning reflexes and rolled out of the way of the energy shot easily enough. Dodging one simple strike like that was nothing to him, especially just after what had happened. He stared after him questioningly, surely he must have realised he, Lord Sesshoumaru, could dodge something like that with no difficulty at all. So that begged the question why had he done it? Surely he must have realised that he was not stupid enough to stay in the same place. But wait, before Naraku had shot the fireball at him, he had quickly glanced behind him at something and smirked, as if he had already won.

Then he realizes, he realizes why he had used all of his remaining power to shoot the ball of magical fire at him. He cannot believe that he had forgotten and missed it in the height of the battle. His father had told him this one thousand times, and he had told members of his own army in return, even after countless victories, 'do not be complacent in the height of battle.' You have always got to keep your guard up no matter what, no matter who you are faced with. You have always got to notice every little detail of the landscape. You must not miss the slightest thing that goes on around you; the smallest thing is usually the most vital.

You must have great special awareness and not once let it falter. If you miss things, you will regret it, if you survive that long. If you make on tiny, seemingly minor mistake it could have disastrous consequences. More often than not, mistakes will end in death. Death. Death is the end, you get no second chances at life, once you die, and that is it, the end. It's not that Naraku thought that he was not stupid enough to stay in the same place so he was still in the line of fire when it reached him. It was more that he assumed he was not stupid enough to get out the way! Because now the shot was heading straight towards Kagome.

He ran faster than he thought was possible; fighting to get there in time, get to her in time. He thought about his people, Inuyasha, Hiten, his fight for freedom and then reclaiming his lands. Kagome, all he had done to her and how he loved her, from the beginning. He realized that there was no way he was going to get her out of the way but knew that he could not allow her to die, she meant everything to him. He thought about how she had changed him over time, and then he made the ultimate sacrifice and stepped in front of the shot.

Everything slowed right down at that moment into slow motion. Everything went from moving far too quickly to hardly progressing at all. There was far too much time in the last few split seconds of his life. Enough time for him to feel fear, enough time for him to think, but not to have any second thoughts. He experienced everything in distinct stages. He felt the rush of warmth as it came up next to him. He felt the tongues gently lick at his clothes in an almost playful manner, and then the fire utterly engulfed him.

The pain was immense. It was more than he had ever experienced before and he was a warrior before he was anything else and he had experienced a lot in his time. How many times has he said that now? The pain didn't last long though. It was just too much to bear. He hears a scream. It could have been him, yet it could have been someone else. It could have been Kagome as she sees him die. It was strange because he had not considered the prospect of pain before. He simply hadn't considered it, but then he hadn't considered anything, he had tried not to think. With all the pain experienced throughout his life, especially with Kagura, it really didn't bother him or cross his mind at all.

He must have screamed.

Black spots entered his vision.

The pain was tremendous.

It was not for long though.

It fades rapidly, then ceases.

He smiled as everything went blank.

And then... he died.


	41. What I understand

**Slightly longer than usual this time, enjoy and review**

**What I understand**

There were some things Kagome would never understand, perhaps there were some things that were simply not meant to be understood. She thought about everything she had been through, with him, for him, because of him, about him, there had not been a minute actually in these past few days when she had not been thinking about him, there was not much else to do besides mope. She had gone over every memory of him and she and what had happened since the moment they met, and she came to the conclusion that she hated him.

She had thought he hated her too, and just had a weird way of showing it, but it would seem that was not entirely true, he liked her a lot. Perhaps it was something she should have guessed herself, for when it came down to it, he had always been there for her. He had saved her life a couple of times and was genuinely concerned and angered over her injuries and illnesses whenever she gained them, and that kiss... It just so happened that he liked and even respected her so much he'd gone ahead and made the greatest sacrifice of all for her.

Kagome fell to the ground on her knees and stroked the bloodied silver hair, shaking her head and not knowing why. Perhaps it was disbelief, perhaps it was denial, perhaps it was just confusion, all of the above stated – maybe. Out of all of her jumbled thoughts, one of them managed to fight its way to the surface and burst passed her shaking lips to form a one word question to the dying Taiyoukai that she needed an answer to so desperately. "Why?" She whispered, not expanding upon that one word and not needing to either.

It started as the smallest of whispers, there was no need to sound of extreme measures even when trying to express yourself, not with that demonic hearing. The restraints that bound her however were soon cut and before she knew it she was sobbing uncontrollably and beating his chest with her fits in between fits and sobs. "Why?" She screamed at him, not knowing why she was feeling anger and hate, surely this was retribution of sorts after all. "WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?" She screamed at him over and over again as she hit him before collapsing over his broken body in a pile that was even more pitiful and cried for all she was worth, again, unaware of the reason why.

Sesshoumaru made no answer for quite some time and just lay there looking at the girl lying on his chest, feeling the wet of her tears as they dripped onto his top. "You always were... one... to cry... for others," he choked out, "even... when they didn't... deserve your tears." He looked into that distraught childlike face, so close, so torn, one that would remain with him through the seven hells when he tried to find peace eventually somewhere in the other plain. But this was the way things were meant to be after all.

"Why?" She whispered one last time, tears still falling, she could not make them stop and did not understand why. "After everything," she started, unable to continue, she lowered her head once more so she was leaning her forehead against his chest. It made no sense, but then again Sesshoumaru had always been a conundrum, from the moment she had met him. The feeling was mutual too though, he had called her 'different' that was it 'different', it was a mundane word but it meant a lot to him, and her, eventually.

"Why... is a heavy... word," he whispered back, and Kagome knew exactly what he meant by that. There were so many things to ask why about, there were so many things to answer for. "I always... liked you... Kagome," he said eventually after a pause to close his eyes and catch his breath. Kagome knew it pained him to talk and she was being selfish demanding answers from him. But she wanted to be selfish and he a lot to answer for, he had to before he passed. Kagome knew it was a queer thought but did not want him to depart this world with her hating him.

He let out a shuddering breath and Kagome grabbed his haori and shook him, afraid that the last breath was his last; she did not hear him draw another in any case. Eventually though he opened his eyes once more and answered her. "Demons are very... possessive, over what... is theirs, and you... were no exception... to me. Because you were different... because you cared... I wanted you... to be safe, I wanted you... to be mine." He managed a crooked smile, "you were... for a while... with pack, with Inuyasha and Shippou."

Kagome shook her head, but realized what he said was true. He was horrible to her really, keeping her in the way that he did, but there were good times too like when they danced together. she was treated like an object or a pet by other members of the Western castle, but whenever she was in danger he was always the one who charged to her rescue. She was frightened in his presence, but safe, and he was her caregiver. He had fed her, clothed her, kept her warm and given her shelter at night. All in all, he had looked after her, even after the last couple of days he had looked after her, her wellbeing had always been his first priority.

"I'm... sorry," he murmured, a weak smile finding its way onto his face. He held out his hand and cupped the side of her face, looking down at her. "You know... I always loved... your eyes... and your emotions." He smiled a little wider, "so don't... ruin them... with tears... I don't... deserve them... I was awful to you... remember?" he drew in another shuddering breath and Kagome could feel his life slipping away from him. He probably only had another 5 minutes left to him, his strength was gone; no Daiyoukai healing was going to heal him from this.

"I couldn't... let you die," he said with a surprising burst of strength and conviction. "Even if I die, even if I die... and my brother... and Hiten, and all the demons... they can all die, as long as you stay. But not you... Kagome... you have to live. You are too pure... for the black of death to hold... you live in purity Kagome. You are free now... live in pure as a miko... forget the war... bring equality back... do what is right... what I should done. You have got to promise... to do this for me... I am going to die... promise to bring equality."

Kagome merely nodded, tears falling to the ground, she could not even wipe her eyes as she hung onto his haori as if that would keep him in this world. "I hated you," she admitted, and this was the wrong time to say it but there was no more time now he was dying. She could not keep it in any longer and it was all coming out now, her final stand, and his final moments, she had to say it all, and he had to know. "I hated you so fucking much," she cried and through her blinding tears and small smile found its way onto her distraught face anyway.

"I hated you for all you did, for the killing, for the war, for what you did to me. Then when you fought for me you redeemed yourself. It is not enough, you took the hit with me hating you, and now you're dying and I'm crying. It makes no sense, because I hated you so much, and now I'm crying for you, why did you do this to me Sesshoumaru? Why am I upset, why aren't I rejoicing, why do I want you to live so much?" maybe it was just guilt, because the shot of power was meant to be for her, Sesshoumaru was dying because of her.

"Is there... was there... one moment when you... liked me. Tell me Kagome... was there a single time... when you liked me."

Kagome could not tell why he wanted her to say it, there were several times when she liked him, like when she first saw him. She liked him when he saved her from the boys who were going rape her in the hot springs near her old home. She liked him when he saved her from the man who attacked Shippou and then nursed her back to health from the injury on her head where she had struck some rocks. She liked him when he hurtled himself over the edge of the cliff when the demon threw her to catch her before she hit the ground and died. She liked him when they danced together than evening, maybe not the kiss afterwards, but...

"There were plenty of times I liked you Sesshoumaru, when you fought for me and saved my life," she answered unhelpfully. "The most important one though was just now, not when you threw yourself in front of the hit for me, but what you said before. I think I loved you when you said that I was too pure for the likes of him to kill. When you said that he and the whole world could do what it liked to you and the rest of the universe, but to leave me alone. It was then when I learnt of your true feelings and that you cared, and I... I don't want you to die."

"You are... always have been... a little fool. You should... want me to die. I am so sorry. I am glad though... there was a moment... in our time together... you didn't hate me. I meant to... say this to you... once I gained... the courage to do so. Lean closer... I can't go on... much longer, put your ear... to my mouth." She complied instantly. With his last breath he said the words he should have said before when it was not too late, like all the other things he had left undone. "I love you," he told her, feeling a great weight lift off his chest as he finally admitted it, "I always did." His soul left the world with a smile still on his peaceful face.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked, taking hold of his shoulders and rapidly shaking him up and down to elicit a response from him, "hey is anyone there!" He did not give a response of course, and Kagome did not really expect one either. "Sesshoumaru! Sesshoumaru! SESSHOUMARU!" She screamed over and over, shaking his body vigorously like a rag doll, trying to get him to wake up. But you cannot wake up from the eternal dark sleep of death. She knew he was dad and could not comply but she continued to shake him anyway, screaming for him, tears streaming down her face, "Sesshoumaru, wake up, I order you to wake up, wake up right now!"

Eventually, worn out and given up on hope she collapsed over his still form, still crying for him in a small voice, "please Sesshoumaru," she let her tears dampen his clothes as she cried for him. Anger set in and she started to beat his chest once more, but the hate had subsided the moment he said he would not let anything touch her, she could not bring herself to hate the Daiyoukai anymore. After a few minutes the help suddenly arrived, but it was too late, he was gone, maybe that was why he hated his younger brother so much.

Kagome felt hands on her shoulders, pulling her away from the body. She wanted to turn and be angry to Inuyasha for being late, for letting his brother die. However when she turned to him she saw there were a few tears in his eyes too – he was sorry, he did not want him to die either, as much as he kept saying otherwise. She could not even say one word and she buried her face into his red haori, crying for both of them, and his arms tightened around her, holding her up, being a pillar of strength for the both of them. "I'm sorry," she said, because it was her fault he had died, "I'm sorry Inuyasha, I am so, so sorry."

"It is alright," he assured her, "I don't blame you, he deserved it, and it was the least he could do for you after everything else he put you through." His voice was so strong, there was not a shake or a stutter in it, and there were hardly any tears either. She did not know why Sesshoumaru called him weak, maybe he was jealous, but to her, Inuyasha was the strongest being she knew, it made no difference what his species was, human, hanyou or demon. She was glad he was here for her and for him, her breath hitched.

"You can cry," Kagome told him softly, face buried in his chest, "it is O.K, and he is your brother after all." He did not need to be told twice and barely a second later she felt his face bury in her raven hair and his tears fall into the silky locks as he too shed a few tears for his brother. Then he straightened and seemed to come to a decision and his eyes dried, "do you want him to live?" He asked her, he was being dead serious, it was strange to see him like this, being serious, he usually did not bother, even with serious matters like these, it was so like his brother.

It was a simple question yet Kagome was struggling to answer him, she did not know why. Maybe it was because it was Inuyasha who was asking her, she could not say, but she was finding it difficult to say her answer. "I – I t-think I might," she stuttered, not wanting to say something she might regret, even though she knew her answer really. Her answer was not good enough for the hanyou and he grasped her shoulders and looked into her eyes, forcing her to look at him when she told him what she truly wanted so she could not lie. "Truly, Kagome, do you truly wish him to live?"

"Yes," she answered straight away, "I can't say why, but neither can I say how much. But more than anything else I want him to live, I want him to be with me, he can't die. I could imagine anyone else dying, my father, you, Shippou, even myself, but not him. For some reason I could never picture him dying, for any reason, he was Sesshoumaru the immortal, he was always going to stay. He was an evil bastard it's true, but he changed Inuyasha. He did not deserve to die and I do want him to live, I truly want him to come back."

With a nod to her, he walked over to his brother's fallen body and picked up the sword at his side. It was the sword he had never told her about, the sword he claimed useless, the sword that could not cut and the one he cursed and scoffed at, the sword he still carried everywhere. Inuyasha raised it above his he and Kagome saw and felt it pulse as if the sword _wanted _to be drawn, as if it was... alive. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and then as it became clear what he was going to do with it horror and disbelief as he slashed it over Sesshoumaru's body.

She remembered later that the sword could not cut, and slashing his brother's body was not going to cause any damage to it. She ran to her fallen friend's side, for she considered him a friend again watched in amazement as he drew ion a long shuddering breath and his chest started moving up and down – he had come back. Eventually he opened his amber eyes and saw the only two people he really cared about kneeling beside him and he managed a small smile. "Hey," he said in that quiet voice of his, "you still crying over me Kagome?"

She did not understand what was happening or how, but all that mattered was he was back and she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him as they both tumbled on the ground. Inuyasha stood slightly off to the side with a small smile on his face at the two of them and the way they acted. It grew as Sesshoumaru's arms came up to wrap around the small girl attached to his waist in response to her 'attack'. He would never admit how broken he had felt when he saw Sesshoumaru's dead body, but he too was overjoyed the sword had worked bringing him back.

"Took you long enough," Sesshoumaru was speaking to him now.

Inuyasha just nodded.

"Are you better."

The trauma of his imprisonment would never leave, but Kagome had helped heal him. He nodded in response again.

"Can you fight?"

"Of course."

"Then let's get down there boy! We have a battle to win!" Together the brothers charged forward, with Naraku gone the battle would be completed in no time.


	42. Life goes on

**Yay, a quick update. Kind of boring, sorry about that. Story is drawing to a close now, I should be done in a week's time if not sooner. I will start a drabble story of Sess/Kag called sketch pad and maybe a drabble Inutaisho/Kag.**

**Life goes on**

The fight for equality takes a long time; slavery of any sort of any race is easily abolished when you are the Lord of the West and therefore hold a lot of power and authority. It is not so easy to make the other Lords agree, them being humans, but a smile showing off his fangs and a dangerous glint in his amber eyes was enough to make them see thing his way. In fact, it was enough to persuade them to give their thrones back to their rightful Daiyoukai owners and finally things were going back to the way they were before slavery was introduced.

Humans and youkai were coming to an understanding that the only real choice was for them to live in harmony with one another. Demons were stronger, but if they tried to use that to force humans into submission there would be rebellions and needless death. It was the same the other way around, Sesshoumaru had proven that if humans tried to use their technology to rise to the top there would be a rebellion, there had been a rebellion. Countless had died and although Kagome knew a lot of them had not needed to, the rest of the population, humans included were grudgingly admitting it was the humans' fault.

With Sesshoumaru alive, it was he and Inuyasha who had come out of his shell completely now who were working on bringing equality to the world. Still frightened over almost losing her, Sesshoumaru had granted her freedom too, as long as she still counted the western Palace home and returned there every evening. It was not ideal, but better than before, and Kagome had decided to use this newfound freedom to try and find her family. Deciding that this required her to be out of the palace overnight she ended up kidnapping Inuyasha to go with her. After winning Sesshoumaru's trust so recently she was not going to breach it by worrying him so quickly and staying out all night with no guard, he jumped at the chance to spend time alone with her.

They were not too difficult to find, in fact Kagome found them in the first place she decided to search. It turned out they were staying in the neutral village with Keade who had taken them in with open arms. Souta was no different from how he usually was except taller with longer hair, and her grandfather was just as crazy as he usually was. The only member of her family who had changed was her mother, with Onigumo dead, her family had heard about that, her head had seemed to have cleared. She was no longer at all half dazed all the time or uncaring, after almost losing her daughter she showered her with the love she had been depriving her of.

She took to Inuyasha immediately, twitching his puppy ears and picking pieces of undergrowth and leaves out of his silver bangs. After having his own mother die when he was very young, he adored her and lapped up the attention like a starved puppy. The only difficulty came when she tried to convince them to move in with her, they did not want to be anywhere near the killer Sesshoumaru. They did not want her to go back to them either, Miroku had gotten to them and told them all about her ordeal and despite telling them things had changed, they refused.

She could not blame them for this, she totally understood, but with Inuyasha willing to ferry her on his back wherever she wished to go, they were only a three hour run away. They promised that in a years' time, once the fight for equality had settled down they would move to the Western Lands and have a home there. That way they would never be more than an hour away, half an hour if Sesshoumaru were to drop her off on his cloud instead of Inuyasha taking her. She settled for that and nodded, she was willing to agree to anything, she was just happy to finally have her family back and things back to normal.

The only member of her family that ended up staying at the Western Castle with her was little Shippou. Inuyasha was like a brother to her as well and he liked to claim he was officially her brother after claiming her mother as pack. Kagome was optimistic, the fight for equality would take time and things would settle eventually, but her life was taking a turn for the better. Watching Sesshoumaru die in front of her had shocked her into telling him she loved him, and seeming as he had changed so much, maybe she was telling the truth. He loved her, he had said so as he lay dying in front of her eyes, and she was glad he was given the chance to right his wrongs.

She did not know where her future was going to take her and she did not know what was going to happen, but she would take it. The only thing left to do was hope everything turned out alright in the end, she had gone through enough strife getting there, and if she was lucky, maybe that dream she had had long ago would become reality. She just had to wait and see though, forgive and forget with Sesshoumaru, and move on with life.


	43. Starting again

**O.K, wow, I wrote this in half an hour, which is pretty good for me. This is the second last chapter and I have chosen not to end it on a lemon although 'pure of heart' on one. I just don't like writing them much although I will read them quite happily. I hope you enjoy this chapter and do not forget to review!**

**Starting again**

6 months later and things were looking good for Kagome finally. Equality was pretty much gained everywhere, and it was not odd to see demons and humans walking beside each other in the street in places other than the neutral village. Prejudice will exist with both species for a long time, several generations in fact, but it will subside over time. True to their word, her family had moved into the Western Lands and Sesshoumaru had been kind enough to give them a house near the palace. He offered for them to move in, but they still refused and he did not press as long as it was understood Kagome would not be moving out although she could visit as much as she wanted.

Things were finally settling after the battle, Inuyasha had gained respect for his fighting prowess on the battlefield. Also, although it was a secret that Sesshoumaru had died, somehow it had gotten out (although thankfully it was not known why), thus Inuyasha gained more respect. Shippou too was given praise from Sesshoumaru his alpha for looking after his mother on the battlefield and the praise was lapped up greedily. There was funeral held for Hiten who died in the battle against Naraku, (Kagome could now easily just call him plain Naraku,) after avenging his brother. This time Sesshoumaru did not howl in grief, but Kagome comforted him all the same, it was easy to tell he needed it, and said a few words in respect.

As for their relationship, it was going very well, Sesshoumaru had stopped treating her like a pet and the workers had stopped looking at her like shit. Inuyasha had come out of his shell completely and according to Sesshoumaru was almost back to his old self, they were squabbling like real siblings already, and Kagome took that as a good sign. Shippou could fight and wanted to become a warrior, Inuyasha ad offered to train him and they had had a few sparring matches, trouble is Inuyasha is not all that good at holding back. Kagome in the end is putting her foot down to say to wait until he is older and bigger much to their protests.

Kagome started calling the Western fortress home, and as for Sesshoumaru, well she started spending time with him in the evenings. Once he had finished his work they would sit together in the study or in the gardens and read or talk or drink sake and tea. She had started to like him like a friend again, for he had redeemed himself and she could forgive him. He liked her too, he had even said he loved her as he lay dying but neither of them had brought that up and didn't plan to either. But even so, one day as they sat their talking, Sesshoumaru turned to her, held her chin in one hand and kissed her solidly on the lips.

It was not a goodnight kiss like before, but a really proper tongue in mouth passionate kiss. Kagome did not know how to react so she didn't, she just went to bed, but it was on her mind for the rest of the week. She was unsure of her feelings for Sesshoumaru, sure they were strong, she loved him, but she thought it was a platonic love, one of friendship and nothing more, maybe she was wrong and they had grown but she had just not realized it. It seemed unlikely she would have any romantic feelings towards him, but it was a possibility.

So maybe she did love him... but she was unable to admit that, not to anyone, not even herself. She wanted to be true to her feelings if these were her true feelings, but she just felt so... guilty. She felt as if she was betraying herself and morals if she were to openly love him, for although she had forgiven him, as try as she might she will never be able to forget. She could not love someone like him, someone who would do the things he had done, not just to her, but to everyone, it did not seem right. It did not matter that she was a miko and he was a Daiyoukai, that was unimportant, but he was a killer, and she was pure, too pure for even death.

She wanted to love him, she wanted to be free to love him, because he loved her, he said so. He had confronted her not long ago and asked of her feelings for him and if they were as strong as his. She said she did not know, but it was unlikely, because she could not bring herself to do it. But everyone deserves another chance and she truly believed he was changed and would be good to her this time. She took a deep breath and started towards his chambers where she knew he would be at this time of day and knocked on the door.

Once she was granted entrance he took one look at her face and knew she was having trouble getting something off her chest. "Just say it," he advised, "however it comes out, don't worry about how it sounds first, we'll come to an understanding." This was one of the reasons why she loved him, the fact it was hinted at they were made for each other. They could read one another easily; she could read past his stoic mask as if it was not there at all and he could always tell if there was something she wanted to ask or say.

She took his advice, "I was wondering if we could start again," she said. "You asked me if I love you, you said you love me and you want your feelings to be reciprocated. I said I did not know what I felt back then and if it was anything more than friendship or not, but, I have thought about it and I have come to the conclusion that I want to. I want to love you, but I just feel guilty doing so because of our past and the things you have done and how that contradicts with who I am. So I want us to start again, meet again, as equals and become friends once more. We can court like usual and see of it works, then we will know if we were meant for each other."

He stared at her for a moment before enfolding her in his arms and stating quite simply, "I accept." Kagome could feel him smiling into the crook of her neck as he hugged her. Then he dropped to the ground on one knee, holding her left hand in his, "my name, my beautiful celestial maiden, is Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you. Would you give me the honour of your own name?" And in that moment as she told him she was Kagome, she was sure things were only going to go uphill from there, in their relationship at least.


	44. Made for each other

**So this is the final chapter, sorry to all of you who were expecting lemons, but this chapter implies one, if that is good enough for you. Enjoy and review!**

**Made for each other**

Sesshoumaru courted Kagome for three months in the traditional way courting is meant to be done. He brought her presents and gifted her family as well, Inuyasha thought it was hilarious after he got over the initial shock of it happening after all he did. Gradually she relaxed in his presence and she gave him kisses in the mornings and in the garden, she began to enjoy his embraces as he enjoyed her opening up to him. They danced together occasionally after meals and slept together even if they did not join physically, they just liked being close to one another.

Finally he posed the big question, and he did it in the formal human way of doing it too, getting down on one knee and holding out a golden ring, and of course she agreed immediately. The ceremony was huge, after all he was a cardinal lord, and the one who brought about equality, mating with a human, a miko no less, which was good politics on the equality front anyway. Her mother surprised her by not being at all shocked by the news; she said she knew it was coming the day Kagome found them again. Kagome had not had any feelings for Sesshoumaru then, or so she believed, but she did not doubt her mother one moment.

If you had asked her one year ago if she thought of getting married she would have laughed. To Sesshoumaru, the mere thought of liking him made her gag, she had hated him, but then he saved her life, several times. The time he died for her though, that got to her, many lovers would say they would die for their partner, but not all of them would actually do so if the time came, even less would still live to tell the tale, but Sesshoumaru managed. But she had asked that they start again so she had the chance to live him like she had always wanted to love.

They joined physically on the night of their joining and Kagome learnt just how much stamina a Daiyoukai had. He came three times that night, and somehow she came 8, she did not know it was even possible, and his penis was enormous, it hurt, but she knew it would just keep getting better after the first time. She practically passed out from exhaustion and Sesshoumaru was not at all sympathetic telling her she had better get used to more long nights like those. She stayed human, but her lifespan was lengthened to that of his on their first joining.

This frightened her, she had never before thought about that possibility, watching the present become past and the futures become the present. She had never thought about watching her family grow old and die while she stayed the same age, and watching her parents get elderly was one of the worst experiences of her life. One thankful moment was when Souta started visiting more and more often even when their parents did not like it to see Shippou as well as her. During his visits he fell in love with one of the healers that had initially cared for her when she was accidentally stabbed, so her little brother remained her little brother.

Time passed and they both had litters of pups who had instant connections with each other so they had happy childhoods. And her dream became reality without even prejudice, she was so glad she had lived to make it so and see the effects of it. Kagome Higurashi, child miko has a dream. She has a dream that one day Humans will not live in hate for youkai and that youkai will not live as slaves in fear of humans. Kagome has a dream that one day the world will be balanced and youkai and humans can coexist without the need for a war. Kagome Higurashi has hope and prays the one day her dreams will not exist solely within her mind and become reality. Kagome Higurashi, no longer a child miko, has no need for dreams anymore.

Every day was filled with glorious activities and balls and meals with her mate, and every night was filled with love making and sleeping in each other's arms. She did not regret her decision to be with him the way she was now and she never felt guilty for loving him either. He was a great man once the trauma of being a slave which never really left him either wore off, for it was that she learnt that caused the bloodlust. He was a good ruler too, just and fair, ruthless when he needed to be, but not without mercy (which she instilled in him). They got people believing they should not be together, being a Daiyoukai and a miko, but they belonged with one another.

They were always going to end up with one another.

They loved each other, and it was a true and solid, unshakeable love, and that was all they needed to make them work.


End file.
